The rise of Buddhism in Thailand during the 18th and 19th centuries can be attributed to King Mongkut, whose exemplary practice of the Buddhist way of life strengthened and enhanced interest in Buddhism. Mongkut is best known in Western cultures for his relationship with the Victorian governess hired to teach his children, which was immortalized in the movie versions of The King and I, featuring "sensationalized accounts of Siamese court life" (Ross 70). Mongkut was not the "musical clown" or the "irrational despot" that the movies suggested, but "was in reality a distinguished and enlightened monarch, very much in the tradition of that preeminent Indian Buddhist ruler of the distant past, Emperor Ashoka" (Ross 71). The rightful heir to the Siamese throne upon his birth in 1804, Mongkut was nevertheless passed over by the State Council for a half-brother, yet he "calmly remained on in the peace and quiet of the meditative monastic life he had been living for some years" rather than "fight for his princely rights" (Ross 71). This gave him "an acute sense of reality and a knowledge of people he could not possibly have got amid the artificialities of palace life" (Ross 71). These personal qualities undoubtedly established respect and trust for Mongkut among the Thai people, thus paving the way for their equal acceptance of his religious beliefs in Buddhism.
As Ross points out, citing from Griswold, "The monkhood is a startlingly democratic institution. Its members are drawn from all levels of society, and distinctions of rank depend on function and seniority rather than birth or worldly position" (71). Moreover, its members come from every level of society, and "distinctions of rank depend on function and seniority rather than birth or worldly position" (Ross 71). Not only must Buddhist monks refrain from "stealing, lying and idle talk, talking life, handling money, indulgence in sex, intoxicants, luxuries and frivolo...