Wat Plak Mai Lai is a densely-wooded forest monastery outside of Bangkok in Thailand. Thanks to Abbot Phra Acharn Somneuk Natho’s “non-interventionist” approach to forest management, Wat Plak Mai Lai is the last remaining natural forest in Thailand’s Nakhon Pathom Province. In contrast to the Thai Forestry Department, which contends that for-profit tree plantations are the best solution to deforestation, Phra Acharn Somneuk believes in letting nature restore itself. At Wat Plak Mai Lai, Phra Acharn Somneuk has demonstrated that his hands-off approach to reforestation works. The temple site, once stripped of its natural forest cover, is now thickly wooded, providing a stark contrast to the cash crops that surround the monastery. The forest at Wat Plak Mai Lai demonstrates the recuperative powers of nature, thus challenging the for-profit forestry policies of the government. As a result of the abbot’s approach to reforestation and his efforts to include local villagers, the burning and clearing of trees around the temple has ceased. In addition to serving as a reforestation demonstration site, the monastery provides an environment conducive to meditation. According to Phra Acharn Somneuk, the forest transmits the dhamma: when one refrains from greed, grasping, and intervention, balance is naturally restored.