ABSTRACT
The Thai educational system is extremely sophisticated and monks often move between the secular and the religious sectors. Novices and monks are usually not permitted to study in a secondary school because this presupposes an inappropriate amount of contact with women but they may sit the exams and in some years have been able to attend secular adult education classes, which are often held in wat compounds in the evenings when they have spare time. Mongkut’s reforms led to the emergence of the royally favoured Dhammayutika movement within the more broadly based Mahanikai body of the Sangha. The monks at Mahamakut University are Dhammayutika; those at Mahachulalongkorn are mostly Mahanikai. The herbal medicines that were identified in wat compounds during the interviews conducted in 1982 included treatment for diabetes. The statistical data on the paramedical roles of mae chii have been biased by the fact that much of it is based on the opinions of monks.
