The Three Trials of Khruba Sriwichai

Abstract

Scholars of contemporary Thailand refer to the Sangha reforms promulgated by the Cakri monarchs in the late-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as historical events that instantly created a new regime of Buddhism. These reforms were important. However, their influence was felt in different ways at different places and times depending on important social and political factors.

In this thesis I ask: how did Thailand’s Buddhist reforms change the traditional practice of Buddhism in the Lanna regions? I examine three trials involving a famous Lanna monk called Khruba Sriwichai between 1908 and 1936 for violating the new Sangha Regulations. In each trial, the accusations made against him were similar, butthe final judgements and trial outcomes were different. These differences show how personalities, and changing social and political environments influenced the understanding, uptake and implementation of reformed Buddhism in Lanna between 1908-1936.