Buḍḍhacarya ( th, สมเด็จพระพุฒาจารย์ ; ), dhamma name Upaseṇo ( th, อุปเสโณ; ), born as Kiaw Chokchai ( th, เกี่ยว โชคชัย; ), and commonly known as Somdet Kiaw ( th, สมเด็จเกี่ยว; "His Holiness Kiaw"), was a Thai prelate who was the abbot of

Wat Saket Wat Saket Ratcha Wora Maha Wihan ( th, วัดสระเกศราชวรมหาวิหาร, usually shortened to Wat Saket is a Buddhist temple (''wat'') in Pom Prap Sattru Phai district, Bangkok, Thailand. The temple dates ba ...

and the Acting

Supreme Patriarch of Thailand __NOTOC__ The Supreme Patriarch of Thailand or Sangharaja ( th, สังฆราช; ) is the head of the order of Buddhist monks in Thailand. His full title is ''Somdet Phra Saṅgharāja Sakalamahāsaṅghapariṇāyaka'' ( th, สมเด� ...

, the effective leader of all

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

monks in

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

. He was appointed Acting Supreme Patriarch in 2005 due to the failing health of the incumbent Supreme Patriarch Nyanasamvara Suvaddhana. He was a monk of the

Mahanikaya The Mahā Nikāya (literal translation: "great order") is one of the two principal monastic orders, or fraternities, of modern Thai and Cambodian Buddhism. The term is used to refer to any Theravada monks not within the Dhammayuttika Nikaya, the o ...

order, and is of

Thai Chinese Thai Chinese (also known as Chinese Thais, Sino-Thais), Thais of Chinese origin ( th, ชาวไทยเชื้อสายจีน; ''exonym and also domestically''), endonym Thai people ( th, ชาวไทย), are Chinese descenda ...

descent. His appointment provoked severe criticism from Luang Ta

Maha Bua Ajahn Maha Bua (12 August 191330 January 2011) was a Thai Buddhist monk. He was thought by many of his followers to be an ''arahant'' (someone who has attained full enlightenment). He was a disciple of the esteemed forest master Ajahn Mun Bh ...

(of the

Dhammayuttika Nikaya Dhammayuttika Nikāya (Pali; th, ธรรมยุติกนิกาย; ; km, ធម្មយុត្តិកនិកាយ, ), or Dhammayut Order ( th, คณะธรรมยุต) is an order of Theravada Buddhist ''bhikkhus'' (monk ...

order) and

Sondhi Limthongkul Sondhi Limthongkul ( th, สนธิ ลิ้มทองกุล; RTGS: Sonthi Limthongkun; , born 7 November 1947) is a Thai media mogul, reactionary activist, demagogue, and leader of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD). He was elect ...

, who claimed that the appointment created two Supreme Patriarchs and contravened the royal prerogative of King

Bhumibol Adulyadej Bhumibol Adulyadej ( th, ภูมิพลอดุลยเดช; ; ; (Sanskrit: ''bhūmi·bala atulya·teja'' - "might of the land, unparalleled brilliance"); 5 December 192713 October 2016), conferred with the title King Bhumibol the Great ...

. On 4 March 2005, Maha Bua even petitioned King

to remove all of Kiaw's royal titles.ผู้จัดการรายวัน
ถวายฎีกาถอดสมเด็จเกี่ยว
, 4 มีนาคม 2548

References

Notes

His full dignitarial title was "สมเด็จพระพุฒาจารย์ ภาวนากิจวิธานปรีชา ญาโณทยวรางกูร วิบูลวิสุทธิจริยา อรัญญิกมหาปริณายก ตรีปิฎกบัณฑิต มหาคณิสสร บวรสังฆาราม คามวาสี อรัณยวาสี" (). He was formally styled as "Somdet Phra Buddhacarya (Kiaw Upaseṇo)" ��มเด็จพระพุฒาจารย์ (เกี่ยว อุปเสโณ) 1928 births Thai religious leaders Thai people of Chinese descent Thai Theravada Buddhist monks Political history of Thailand 2013 deaths People from Surat Thani province {{Thailand-bio-stub