In his memories, the former permanent secretary of the Interior Ministry, Dr Winyu Angkhanarak, tells of his time as Provincial Governor of Udon Thani in 1969-70
the Vietnam war was getting very violent, and in Udon Thani alone we had about 6,000 American airforce, green beret and other military personnel, and about 200 American families. The Governor had eight different American advisors. Red head kids were everywhere, the American dollar at the Udon Thani market was almost like Thai money.
If Americans were increasingly common 'upcountry' , so too were so called 'development monks'. After the inauguration of the first Sangha Act in 1902, governing the organization of the Buddhist clergy, Bangkok authorities systematically sought the withdrawal of monks from community life, and conformity to palace-sanctioned forms of Buddhist monastic life.