70th Birthday Merit-Making Ceremony for Phra Samut Wachirasophon (Vi.) — Luang Pho Itthi Bhaddacāro

Wat Chulamanee held the merit-making ceremony marking the 70th birthday (ayuwatthanamongkhon) of Phra Samut Wachirasophon (Vi.) — Luang Pho Itthi Bhaddacāro — Adviser to the Region 15 Ecclesiastical Council and Abbot of Wat Chulamanee.

At Wat Chulamanee, Bang Chang Subdistrict, Amphawa District, Samut Songkhram Province, on Saturday 1 August 2026, attended by a large gathering of devotees and disciples.

How the day unfolded

Somdet Phra Maha Ratchamongkhonmuni, Chief Ecclesiastical Governor of the Central Region and member of the Sangha Supreme Council, of Wat Traimit Witthayaram Worawihan, presided as the senior monk and lit the incense and candles in homage to the Triple Gem, while Mr Chayachai Saeng-in, Governor of Samut Songkhram Province, presided as the lay chair and opened the floral cone in royal homage before the portrait of His Majesty the King.

Nineteen monks of ecclesiastical rank chanted the Mahāsamaya Sutta. The midday meal was then offered to 150 monks, and those present joined in releasing fish into the Amphawa canal.

Educational grants and public charity

On this occasion, funds and educational grants were presented for charitable purposes, totalling 1,200,000 baht (one million two hundred thousand baht), as follows:

• Pali studies fund, Wat Molilokayaram, Bangkok — 50,000 baht

• Pali studies fund, Wat Phet Samut Worawihan, Samut Songkhram — 20,000 baht

• Pali studies fund, Wat Pradu, Samut Songkhram — 20,000 baht

• Scholarships for students of Kanchanaburi Rajabhat University — 350,000 baht

• Scholarships for pupils under the Samut Songkhram Primary Educational Service Area — 100,000 baht

• Scholarships for pupils of Amphawan Witthayalai School — 30,000 baht

• Educational subsidy for Thairath Witthaya 70 School — 20,000 baht

• Pha Pa robe-offering fund for Ban Phichit Chai Mae Klong, Samut Songkhram — 100,000 baht

• Towards the construction of the ordination hall at Wat Bang Kaphom, Samut Songkhram — 100,000 baht

• Construction of lavatories at Wat Don Phing Daet, Phetchaburi — 200,000 baht

• Repair of lavatories at Wat Chang Thaeng Krachat School, Phetchaburi — 100,000 baht

• Support for the Amphawa youth khon dance-drama group — 10,000 baht

• Scholarships at every level for children of the Wat Chulamanee community, 86 grants — 100,000 baht

Part of the funding was supported by the Thewa Sathit Tao Wessuwan Foundation, B.E. 2569.

Pha Pa robe-offering for the “Ban Phichit Chai Mae Klong” drug-rehabilitation halfway house

On this occasion Phra Samut Wachirasophon (Vi.) — Luang Pho Itthi Bhaddacāro, Adviser to the Region 15 Ecclesiastical Council and Abbot of Wat Chulamanee, Samut Songkhram Province, presented 100,000 baht (one hundred thousand baht) towards the anti-narcotics Pha Pa robe-offering, to Mr Chayachai Saeng-in, Governor of Samut Songkhram Province, to help establish and operate the province's halfway house for people recovering from drug dependence.

The Pha Pa offering itself was held on 7 August 2026 at Wat Suan Luang, raising a combined total of 2,050,730.17 baht.

Drug dependence is a threat that reaches into families, communities and society at every level, and helping those who have completed treatment return to ordinary life with dignity is a matter of real urgency. Samut Songkhram Province, under Governor Mr Chayachai Saeng-in, has therefore begun establishing the “Ban Phichit Chai Mae Klong” halfway house, to prepare those who have completed treatment before they return to their families and communities — restoring body, mind, life skills and livelihood alike.

This Pha Pa offering, then, is not merely an act of merit: it is a shared effort to build an “opportunity” and a “home” in which those who have lost their way may begin again, and a step towards resolving the problem of narcotics at its root.

A vehicle for government service

A further donation was made of one four-door pickup truck, valued at 350,000 baht, to the Samut Songkhram Provincial Special Education Centre for use in its official duties.

Rice and other provisions

Rice and supplies were also donated for the school lunch programmes and charitable work of government agencies, schools and other organisations, totalling 4,820 sacks weighing 24 tonnes 100 kilogrammes, worth 727,400 baht, together with 180 cases of instant noodles, distributed as follows:

• Community relations activities, Mass Affairs Division, ISOC — 40 relief kits and a further 20 sacks of rice.

• The Samut Songkhram Primary Educational Service Area Office, Anuban Samut Songkhram School and Mueang Samut Songkhram School, 100 sacks each.

• Local schools in Samut Songkhram, 50 sacks each — Wat Kaeo Charoen · Wat Sadet · Thipangkorn Witthayaphat · Wat Don Manora · Wat Khu Sanam Chan · Wat Rong Tham Mittraphap 70 · Wat Dao Dong · Wat Lat Peng · Wat Chan Charoen Suk · Wat Bang Prachan.

• Six Border Patrol Police schools in Thong Pha Phum District, Kanchanaburi, 200 sacks each — Ban Pilok Khi (with 100 dozen bottles of drinking water) · Luang Prakop Nitisan lae Than Phuying Thawin · Ban Thi Lai Pa · Sunthonwet · Mit Muanchon 2 · Wichit Witthayakhan.

• Border Patrol Police schools Saha Thanakhan Krung Thep (Sangkhla Buri, Kanchanaburi), Ban Tham Hin (Suan Phueng, Ratchaburi) and Ban Ton Mamuang (Sai Yok, Kanchanaburi), 200 sacks each.

• Wat Kasem Saranaram (Wat Bang Chak), Samut Songkhram — 160 sacks.

• Sawang Benchatham Foundation, Samut Songkhram — 1,000 sacks.

• Sawang Metheethammasathan Foundation, Sam Roi Yot, Prachuap Khiri Khan — 1,000 sacks.

Programme

Almsgiving ceremony

• 07.30 hrs — Participants assemble at the Sala Bai Bun pavilion, Wat Chulamanee.

• 08.00 hrs — Phra Samut Wachirasophon (Vi.), Adviser to the Region 15 Ecclesiastical Council and Abbot of Wat Chulamanee, presiding, together with all participants, offers alms to 71 monks (rice and dry food).

Propitiation rite for Tao Wessuwan

• 08.45 hrs — Participants assemble at the Sala Bai Bun pavilion, Wat Chulamanee.

• 09.09 hrs — Phra Samut Wachirasophon (Vi.), Adviser to the Region 15 Ecclesiastical Council and Abbot of Wat Chulamanee, presiding.

  • Lighting of incense and candles before the offering table of Tao Wessuwan.

  • The presiding chair and all participants plant long-stemmed incense and present the offerings.

  • The brahmin master conducts the propitiation rite for Tao Wessuwan.

  • The presiding chair and all participants scatter puffed rice and flowers over the offering table.

Chanting of the Paritta blessings

• 09.30 hrs — Participants assemble at the Phra Phuttha Chinnarat pavilion.

• 09.45 hrs — The presiding monk and the presiding lay chair arrive at the ceremony ground.

• 10.00 hrs — Somdet Phra Maha Ratchamongkhonmuni, member of the Sangha Supreme Council and Chief Ecclesiastical Governor of the Central Region, presiding monk, lights incense and candles in homage to the Triple Gem.

  • Mr Chayachai Saeng-in, Governor of Samut Songkhram Province and presiding lay chair, opens the floral cone and incense-candle tray before the royal portrait of His Majesty the King.

  • The names of those paying homage to the presiding monk are announced in turn.

  • The master of ceremonies requests the precepts · the monks confer the precepts.

  • The master of ceremonies requests the Paritta chanting.

  • The monks of ecclesiastical rank chant the Paritta blessings.

  • The presiding lay chair and honoured guests offer the four requisites to the monks.

  • The assembled monks give thanks / the water of dedication is poured / blessings are received.

• 10.40 hrs — Participants assemble at the riverside landing of Wat Chulamanee.

• 10.49 hrs — The presiding monk, the presiding lay chair and honoured guests release fish into the river.

• 11.00 hrs — The midday meal is offered to the monks · participants join the meal.

• 12.09 hrs — Mr Chayachai Saeng-in, Governor of Samut Songkhram Province, presiding lay chair, together with heads of government agencies and all participants, pay their respects and offer felicitations to Phra Samut Wachirasophon (Vi.), Adviser to the Region 15 Ecclesiastical Council and Abbot of Wat Chulamanee.

The official programme document

For further information, please contact Phra Khru Phaisan Kitchaphon (Phra Bu), tel. 098-823-9595 / 086-826-6655.

Photographs from the ceremony