The passing of Phra Munee Withet aka Chaokhun Sukhum was announced on the Wat Somdej Phra Maha Rajmangalajarn Facebook page. The temple is located in Bakersfield, California.

The late abbot was also the operation director of the Council of Thai Bhikkhus in the US.

Phra Metee Thammajarn, secretary-general of the Buddhism Protection Centre in Thailand, said Phra Munee had devoted himself to the council&rsquo;s work. Also, he said, the late abbot&rsquo;s frank and straightforward manner made him popular with many Buddhists.

<picture>
 <source srcset="https://media.nationthailand.com/uploads/images/contents/w1024/2022/04/S0u8uBpxAd7Vp60mjUj6.webp?x-image-process=style/md-webp" media="(max-width: 690px)" type="image/webp" />
 <img src="https://media.nationthailand.com/uploads/images/contents/w1024/2022/04/S0u8uBpxAd7Vp60mjUj6.webp?x-image-process=style/lg-webp" alt="Beloved abbot of Thai temple in California dies at 68" class="img-fluid w-100 showcaption-false" style="width: 1200px; height: 676px;" width="1200" height="676" loading="lazy" />
 </picture>The council&rsquo;s chairman, who is the abbot of the Thai monastery in Fremont, California, chaired the bathing rites and first night of prayers for late Phra Munee.

Beloved abbot of Thai temple in California dies at 68

The abbot of a Thai Buddhist temple in California passed away peacefully at 3pm on Saturday (5am Sunday Thailand time). He was 68 years old and had spent 47 years in monkhood.