On September 1, 2026, Wat Pa Si Khunaram, a forest temple in Ban Chit village, Ku Kaeo district of Udon Thani province in northeastern Thailand, issued a public statement clarifying the purpose behind a newly minted memorial amulet coin tied to its resident monk, retired Lieutenant General Boonsin Padklang. Now ordained under the monastic name Phra Boonsin Chotipanyo, the former commander confirmed that every baht raised from the coin, called "Luang Phor Prajak–Luang Phor Boonsin Rd. 1," will go toward building and renovating the temple, "not for personal benefit." The coins will be distributed during the temple's Kathin Samakkhi robe-offering ceremony on November 1, 2026.
From Border Commander to Forest Monk
Before his ordination, Boonsin Padklang commanded the Royal Thai Army's Second Army Region, overseeing security along Thailand's northeastern border with Cambodia. His forceful command style earned him the nickname "Shrimp Commander" (แม่ทัพกุ้ง), a moniker that stuck in Thai media coverage of the region for years. Senior military and political figures entering the monkhood after retirement, then commissioning a namesake amulet coin to mark the occasion, is a recognizable pattern in Thai temple culture, one of many threads collectors can trace through the country's amulet-lineage traditions covered in our guide to the Nine Great Monks of Thailand.
What the Coin Actually Looks Like
According to Thai outlets Thairath and The Thai Press, the copper, egg-shaped coin measures roughly 2.5 by 3.5 centimeters. The obverse carries a half-body portrait of the temple's revered senior teacher, Phra Ajarn Prajak Buripanyo, respectfully known as Luang Phor Prajak. The reverse bears the Pali chant "Chaiya Chaiya Namo Buddhaya" alongside a Thai phrase for "victory in battle, auspiciousness, great fortune," an inscription that nods directly to Boonsin's military career. The temple plans three months of chanting before the coins are formally blessed and handed out at the November ceremony; each Kathin sponsorship group contributing 1,000 baht receives one, with a companion protective cloth reserved for larger donors. Readers unfamiliar with how these blessing rituals work can see our explainer on Thai amulet consecration ceremonies for more detail.
Why the Public Clarification Mattered
The decision to issue a formal statement about where the money goes is notable in itself. Temple-commissioned commemorative coins are one of the most common ways Thai temples raise construction funds, a practice detailed in our piece on how Thai temples fund themselves through amulets, but public sensitivity around transparency has grown sharply after a string of high-profile scandals involving swapped and counterfeit amulets among established dealers. Against that backdrop, a retired general-turned-monk going out of his way to state that proceeds will not personally benefit him reads as a direct response to that climate of scrutiny, even without any specific allegation attached to this coin.
What This Means for Collectors
For overseas buyers, it is worth keeping this coin in its proper category: a temple fundraising piece tied to a Kathin ceremony, not a lineage amulet from one of Thailand's revered master monks. These commemorative coins are typically produced in larger quantities and carry strong sentimental and charitable value, but they rarely appreciate on the secondary market the way scarce vintage pieces do. Anyone sourcing this or similar temple-issue coins through overseas channels should verify the issuing temple and consecrating monk before paying a premium, a habit our guide on Samakom Phra certification walks through step by step.
Source: Thairath, The Thai Press