Photo of Luangta paying respect to Luang Phor Mun's statue

Below is a photo that I have taken from a free distribution book- the book is written in Thai language and distributed during Luangta's birthday last year:



Luangta has such deep respect for his teacher, Luang Phor Mun that it shows up in his writings. In many of his books and talks, Luangta often praised Luang Phor Mun and from Luangta, we get insight into Luang Phor Mun's life. When I first saw the picture, it really touched my heart- Luangta had mentioned in one of his books that he would gladly trade his life in exchange for his dear teacher.

Luangta dedicated his entire life to be of example and continue the teachings of Luang Phor Mun. He has his share of challenges and encountered many obstacles along the way, and yet, he never give up. Let that serve as an inspiration for us all- most of the time, when we want to accomplish good things in life, do not give up with the road gets tough.

Happy Birthday, Luangta

Today, 12 August 2009, is Luangta Maha Boowa's 96th birthday.

My deepest and sincerest gratitude to Luangta, whose book, the Spiritual Autobiography of Ajahn Mun had changed my life forever and made me travelled to Wat Baan Taad to see him personally. I had to go through a series of obstacles, including not being able to see him the first time- in fact, a week before I was due to travel to see him, I had a strange dream. In the dream, I cycled to a temple with my heart wanting to see Luangta. As I arrived in full anticipation, I opened the door to see a number of old monks sitting together. But in the dream, I knew in my heart that Luangta was not there. In the dream I felt so disappointed.

The dream came true. A week later when I travelled to Wat Baan Taad in Udon Thani to see him, he had went to Bangkok. In that trip to Thailand, we have visited other temples and yes, as the dream had foretold, I've met a number of elderly monks. But as I walked into his temple, feeling so disappointed that I was not able to see him, I felt in my heart that if I am sincere and come back the second time, I will see him.

I did, and I came back the second time. I remember as I carried my bags towards the hall- it was morning and he was having his morning meal. The first time I saw him, I knew- I knew... all the effort, everything.... it was all worth it. That was year 2005. I've never looked back since.

Everything in life that we want to do, there will be naysayers to discourage us. If I had listened to what others had say or go with the flow of the world, I would not be the person I am today.

Thank you, Luangta, for inspiring me to practice the Dhamma through your writings. I am a better and more peaceful person because your teachings has touched my heart. We are indeed fortunate that we live at this age and time when we can still see you in person. A living proof of someone who had undergone tough dhutanga (astetic) practices of the Thai Forest Tradition. It is true that one is able to live in this world and be a good person practicing the Dhamma, even amongst others who doesn't practice.

Note: Ajahn Mun (Luangta's teacher) passed away when Luangta was in his early thirties. The legancy Ajahn Mun lives on through Luangta's teachings. When Ajahn Mun passed away in 1949 at the age of 79, most of his close disciples were about late 50s or older. If Luangta had been around the same age as his teacher, we would not be as fortunate as we are now.

View Luangta Maha Boowa on TV wherever you are via your PC

Visitors from overseas may not be aware that there is a special network channel dedicated to Luangta Maha Boowa. The channel is available via Star cable TV in Thailand.


However, even if you are not from Thailand, you can view Luangta Maha Boowa from wherever you all via his official website. I have known this for quite sometime but today, it suddenly occurred to me that many people who have read and heard about Luangta Maha Boowa may not know that they can actually view him from the internet. I sincerely apologise- I should have thought of this earlier.


Here's how:

Go to http://www.luangta.com/. The website is in Thai language:



Click on the TV icon as shown on the picture above.


Run the script and you will be able to view him.

Every morning via the TV, in Thailand time, about 7 to 9am, you will be able to view him live- you can see him taking his morning meal. As for the website, I am not sure if there is any delayed time. Then, the same show in the morning is generally repeated at night about 8 or 9pm if I remember correctly. The rest of the time, there may be life appearance, eg when Luangta decided to give an impromptu talk. Else, it will be a replay of previous events.

The date of the recording is normally shown on the screen- but again, it is in Thai. This , 2009 is 2552 in the Thai calendar. The date is normally not displayed as 1999 but it is in Thai calendar. Therefore if you see a date that indicates the year 2550 for instance, you will know that the show was recorded about 2 years ago. By taking note of the year, at least you will know if it is a recent recording of him. If you want to know the exact date, here's the Thai month:

January มกราคม ---- February กุมภาพันธ์ ----- March มีนาคม ----- April เมษายน ----- May พฤษภาคม ----- June มิถุนายน ----- July กรกฎาคม ---- August สิงหาคม -----September กันยายน ---- October ตุลาคม ---- November พฤศจิกายน -----December ธันวาคม -----
eg, 25 ธันวาคม 2550 means 25 December 2007.

There is also a dedicated radio channel, FM103.25. You can listen too by clicking on the FM icon on the website. Please note that the English website is not updated, as such, you need to access to the newest updates via luangta.com.

Train Ticket to Udon Thani

If you wish to visit Wat Baan Taad, you can either buy bus or train ticket to Udon Thani from Hualampong station.

You can get to Hualampong station which is Bangkok's central railway station by taking the AE4 airport bus from Suvarnabhumi airport for 150baht (note: the ticket counter is located near the Magic foodcourt in the airport. Don't respond to touts. Instead, go straight to take the elevator down).


Here's a picture of how the train ticket looks like (found these tickets while doing some housecleaning):

P/S: Notice the ticket indicates from "Don Muang"- this is because when I initially travelled to Wat Baan Taad, the new airport is not ready yet. All I did was to take a flight to the old airport, Don Meung, get down and take the overhead bridge to the adjoining train station. Now Don Meung does not handle international flights anymore. So your train ticket will have to originate from Hualampong instead of Don Meung.