Ecclesiastical peerages (; ; literally "ecclesiastical dignity") have traditionally been given to ordained members of the Thai sangha, the community of the Buddhist monks of Thailand.
Each ecclesiastical peer holds a rank (; ) and a title (; ). For example, Phra Dharma Koà ÂÃÂcÃÂrya (; ) is the title of a monk holding the rank of phra rachakhana () in the dharma class. In addition to an ecclesiastical peerage, a monk may also be known by a lay name (name as a layperson) and a dharmic name.
Holders of certain ranks are given (; ).
The custom of giving peerages to Buddhist priests originated in Sri Lanka and is believed to have been practiced in Thailand since the time of the Sukhothai Kingdom, during which the Sri Lanka's sect of Buddhism known as Laá¹ kÃÂvaá¹Âà Âa () was prevalent in the region and it appears that Srë à Âraddhà(; ), a nephew of King Pha Mueang, a local leader at that time, even travelled to the isle of Sri Lanka where he was ordained as a priest and was given a peerage. Stone inscriptions of that time mention such ecclesiastical titles as MahÃÂthÃÂra (; ) and MahÃÂsvÃÂmë (; ).
During the reign of King Mahathammaracha II of Sukhothai, the Buddhist community of Sukhothai was divided into two sects: araá¹ÂyavÃÂsë (; ; literally "forest dwellers") and gÃÂmavÃÂsë (; ; literally "village dwellers"). The patriarchs of both sects held the title MahÃÂthÃÂra.
In the Ayutthaya Kingdom, the gÃÂmavÃÂsë sect was again divided into two subsects: the northern sect () and the southern sect (). The patriarchs of the northern sect were styled Phra Vanaratna (; ) or Phra Banaratna (; ) and those of the southern sect were styled Phra Buddhaghoá¹£ÃÂcÃÂrya (; ), whilst the patriarchs of the araá¹ÂyavÃÂsë sect were styled Phra BuddhÃÂcÃÂrya (; ). It is also believed that senior monks had been appointed by the monarch of Ayuthaya as supreme patriarchs in charge of the entire monastic community.
In the subsequent kingdoms of Thon Buri and Rattanakosin, the same custom was practiced until the enactment of the Sangha Administration Statute 1902 () by King Rama V, which established a Sangha Supreme Council to nominate monks to the monarch to be appointed to peerages. This is upheld in the present Sangha Act 1962 (), except the appointment of the supreme patriarch which has been amended in January 2017 to solely be at the monarch's pleasure in line with the previous tradition.
At present, the ranks and titles given to members of the Thai sangha are as follows (from highest to lowest):
Supreme patriarch (; ) is the highest rank in the Thai sangha. A supreme patriarch who is a member of the royal family is called somdet phra sangkharat chao (), whilst one who is a commoner is merely called somdet phra sangkharat.
At present, all the supreme patriarchs are appointed by the monarch of Thailand and are titled Ariyavaá¹Âà ÂÃÂgatañÃÂá¹Âa (; ), prefixed by the honorific Somdet Phra ().
Somdet phra rachakhana () is the second highest rank in the Thai sangha after the supreme patriarch. At present, somdet phra rachakhana are appointed by the monarch of Thailand and there can only be eight somdet phra rachakhana: four from the MahÃÂ NikÃÂya sect and the other four from the Dhammayuttika NikÃÂya sect.
The titles for somdet phra rachakhana, each prefixed by the honorific Somdet Phra (), are as follows:
Phra rachakhana () is the third highest rank in the Thai sangha, divided into two classes: special () and ordinary ().
At present, phra rachakhana are appointed by the monarch of Thailand, except those in the saman yok group of the ordinary class who are appointed by the supreme patriarch.
The title chao khun () is often used colloquially for monks with the rank of phra rachakhana.
There are four special classes:
There are 477 posts available in the ordinary class, with 348 for MahÃÂ NikÃÂya and 129 for Dhammayuttika NikÃÂya.
Members of this class have the honorific Phra () prefixed to their titles, such as:
Phra rachakhana in the ordinary class are also divided into four groups:
Phra khru () is the lowest rank in the Thai sangha, divided into three classes:
Holders of this rank have the honorific Phra Khru prefixed to their titles, such as: