page_title: Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen
section_title: Charity
hierarchical_section_title: Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen / Practices and propagation / Charity
caption_attribution_description: English: Preparing an offering ceremony
context_page_description: Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen is a royal wat located in Phasi Charoen district, Bangkok, at the Chao Phraya River. It is part of the Maha Nikaya fraternity and is the origin of the Dhammakaya tradition. It is a large and popular temple, supported by prosperous community members.
  Wat Paknam was established in 1610, during the Ayutthaya period, and received support from Thai kings until the late nineteenth century. By the beginning of the twentieth century, the temple had become nearly abandoned and had fallen into disrepair. The temple underwent a major revival and became widely known under the leadership of the meditation master Luang Pu Sodh Candasaro, who was abbot there in the first half of the twentieth century. Seven years after Luang Pu's death, Somdet Chuang Varapuñño became the new abbot. Somdet Chuang made international headlines from 2015 onward, when his appointment as Supreme Patriarch was stalled and finally withdrawn, due to reasons generally interpreted as political. This has led to heated debate and protests in Thailand. As part of this process, Somdet Chuang and his assistant were accused of tax fraud.
context_section_description: Under Somdet Chuang's supervision, Wat Paknam has established the Luang Por Wat Paknam Foundation, aimed at charity for educational projects, construction, and charity. Led largely by meditation mae chi, the foundation also supports education for monastics. Moreover, it has helped people hit by the 2011 floods in Thailand and Somdet Chuang has traveled to offer charity to the affected areas of the 2015 earthquake in Nepal, in cooperation with the organization Hands 4 Nepal.
  Wat Paknam has organized a number of activities to promote and support public health. Since 1973, Wat Paknam has organized three-monthly blood donations at the temple, in cooperation with the Red Cross and the National Blood Donation Center. The idea was developed by Phrakhru Chai Kittisaro, assistant to Somdet Chuang. Somdet Chuang made the project well known by persuading people throughout the country to donate blood. Wat Paknam received three prizes for their contributions to blood donation, from Princess Soamsavali and Princess Sirindhorn (the latter as chairman of the Red Cross), and from Supreme Patriarch Phra Yanasangworn. From 2005 onward, people could also register for organ, tissue, bone and eye donation. Phrakhru Chai has described the donations as a higher form of practicing goodness (Pali: upapārami). As of June 2014, the blood donations were still held frequently. Wat Paknam also organizes free health check-ups for the local community. In 2013, local policy makers developed a plan to build a hospital in Don Muang, Bangkok, named the "Luang Por Wat Paknam Hospital". It is built on property of Wat Paknam. As of September 2015, the area was still being rented, and negotiations with tenants were in progress.
caption: Preparing a ceremony for offering necessities to the Sangha (monastic community).
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