Tempers flared over the appointment of the 20th supreme patriarch after a network of monks and devotees stepped up calls for the immediate appointment of Somdet Phra Mahamangalacharn to the top post.
The network calling itself the "Sangha and Buddhists Alliance of Thailand" (SBAT), comprising roughly 1,200 monks and supporters, gathered Monday at Phutthamonthon Buddhist park in Nakhon Pathom to attend a seminar titled "Block the plot to overthrow the Sangha's administration".
They were led by Phra Methee Dhammacharn, secretary-general of the Buddhism Protection Centre of Thailand, who is also assistant abbot of Wat Maha That in Bangkok.
The group issued a statement calling on the prime minister to present the nomination of Somdet Phra Maha Ratchamangalacharn, or Somdet Chuang, the 90-year-old abbot of Wat Paknam Phasi Charoen, to His Majesty the King for royal endorsement as the new supreme patriarch.