To assist with the wat activities, a group of laymen is appointed to form the wat
committee. Members of the wat committee are mainly elders and respected villagers.
The most important position is the wat treasurer (Makkhathayok) who is responsible for
the matters concerning with the donated money and revenue earned from land rents and
other wat properties. However, the abbot is in charge of all wat expenditures such as in
building and repairing of the wat halls. Monks are not legally allowed to own any
property. He can carry but a small sum of money at a time. It is not uncommon,
however, that there are abbots and monks who become rich from money donated to the
wat. Anyway, this is rare in the rural areas for donated money is rather in small amount;
and monks are closely observed by villagers in the community.
Social and economic changes in the last three decades have provided grounds for
the emergence of development monks, particularly young monks, who have been
exposed to the modern would and have been influenced by the idea of development.