He was born Nguam Panitch (Thai: เงื่อม พานิช) in 1906 in Ban Phumriang (Chaiya district), southern Siam. His father, Sieng Panitch, was a shopkeeper of second generation Sino-Thai (Hokkien) ancestry and his mother, Klaun, was Siamese.[1] He renounced civilian life in 1926. Typical of young monks during the time, he traveled to the Siamese capital of Bangkok for doctrinal training. But he found the wats (or temples) there dirty, crowded, and, most troubling to him, the Sangha corrupt, 'preoccupied with prestige, position, and comfort with little interest in the highest ideals of Buddhism.'[2] As a result, he returned to his native rural district and occupied a forest tract near to his village. He named it Suan Mokkh, from Thai suan, 'garden' and Vedic moksha, 'release, liberation.'[3] He strove for a simple, pristine practice in attempt to emulate the Buddha's core teaching, "Do good, avoid bad, and purify the mind." He therefore avoided the customary ritualism and internal politics that dominated Siamese clerical life. His ability to explain complex philosophical and religious ideas in his native southern "Pak Tai" vernacular (Southern Thai language) attracted many people to his wooded retreat. However, Buddhadasa was skeptical of his fame; when reflecting on the busloads of visitors to Suan Mokkh he would say "sometimes I think many of these people just stop here because they have to visit the bathroom.