Question

What is the official administration of the Thai Buddhist Order ?

Answer 1

Administration of the Sangha in the Sukhothai and Ayudhaya periods
In terms of administration, the Saṅgha in the time of Sukhothai was divided into
two groups, the gāmavāsī and the araññavāsī. Gāmavāsī were monks who lived in
monasteries (wat) within the cities or in rural villages. The duties of these monks
emphasized ganthadhura—study of the Buddhavacana and teaching the Dhamma to
the people. Araññavāsī monks lived in forest monasteries. Their duties emphasized
vipassanādhura, the practice of calm (samatha) and insight (vipassanā) meditation for
attaining the transcendence of suffering. Administration of the Saṅgha in each of the
city (gāmavāsī) and forest (araññavāsī) wats was done by the abbot, just as it is now.
All wats in the kingdom, regardless of whether they were gāmavāsī or araññavāsī, were
also subject to the administration of the Supreme Patriarch (saṅgharāja) appointed by
the king.
In the Ayudhaya kingdom, the second Thai kingdom of the Indo Chinese peninsula,
administration of the Saṅgha still followed the Sukhothai system. Later it was slightly
adapted from that, with the Saṅgha divided into three groups as follows:
1. The “right side” gāmavāsī: the gāmavāsī monks according to the Sukhothai model.
2. The “left side” gāmavāsī: the monks affiliated with a group that traveled to Lanka
to receive re-ordination, and when they returned to Thailand established their own
group of gāmavāsī monks.
3. Araññavāsī: the monks who lived in forest monasteries, or meditation monasteries
according to the model handed down from the Sukhothai period.