Thai Buddhist patriarch, 100, dies

The Associated Press BANGKOK (AP)—Thailand’s supreme patriarch, who headed the country’s order of Buddhist monks for more than two decades, died Thursday. He was 100.

Doctors said that Somdet Phra Nyanasamvara died at Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital in Bangkok, where he had been treated since being admitted for an illness more than a decade ago.

“[The supreme patriarch’s] overall condition deteriorated, and he passed away at 7:30 p.m. from septicemia,” or a severe blood infection, the doctors said in a statement.

After he was admitted to the hospital on Feb. 20, 2002, the supreme patriarch was able to perform his leadership duties for a time, but in 2004, a senior Buddhist monk was appointed to work on his behalf. That monk died earlier this year, raising speculation about who the supreme patriarch’s successor will be.

His successor will be formally appointed by Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0000748846