he has urged them to go on study trips to other northeastern villages that
have been successful in this kind of integrated farming.
Khamkhian has managed to preserve about 250 acres of lush,
green forests atop the mountain against encroachment. It now provides
the only greenery visible amid vast tapioca fields that stretch
as far as the eye can see. He plans to send monks to stay deep in
the forest, so that villagers will not dare damage the sanctified area,
which has been declared a forest monastery (Ekachai, 1991:65–69).
Khamkhian has also led the villagers’ fight against local authorities
who have supported illegal logging, a struggle which has gained some
degree of self-determination for the community in regards to local
polity. By attacking consumerism with a renewed affirmation of Buddhist
social and ethical values, he has helped the Tahmafaiwan community
win some measure of local cultural independence. Although
he is stricken with cancer and his health was deteriorating in late 2006,
he has inspired a number of younger monks to follow in his footsteps
to build a more just society in rural Thailand.