Background

In Thailand in the early 1980s His Holiness Somdet Phra Buddhakosajarn, Wat Samphraya inquired of His Holiness Phra Dhammakunaporn (Paiboon) Pali IX about his frequent overseas travels and whether he planned to promote the Thai Buddhist teachings during his travels abroad or if he had considered building a temple overseas as means of promoting Thai Buddhism to those countries.

His Holiness Phra Dhammakunaporn (Paiboon), considered the great vision of His Holiness Somdet Phra Buddhakosajarn, and felt that there would be undeniable benefits for the teaching and promoting of Buddhism to Buddhists abroad as well as reaching out to people who wished to know more about Buddhism. He was reminded of the history of the third reformation, and thought, What if the great King Asoka had not decided to approve and send a number of disciples to travel and to teach the way of Buddhism. If this was the case, then it is possible that today we would not have gained the knowledge of wisdom or enlightenment of Dhamma.

From the wise reasoning of His Holiness Somdet Phra Buddhakosajarn as mentioned earlier, His Holiness Phra Dhammakunaporn recognized that this initiative would be a great benefit for the promotion and teaching of Buddhism, and saw it as a duty of Thai monks to carry out this important work. He promptly agreed to this strategy.

His Holiness had been informed that Thai monks had traveled and settled around the world for promoting and teaching Buddhism, especially in Europe and the United States of America. Australia however, had only a few Thai monks who had been settled. Australia was seen as a country with boundless land and a thriving, prosperous Thai community. There were also other Asian Buddhists who had settled here in Australia. He realized that to accomplish his objective he needed strong support from the local Thai community who believed in, and had faith in Buddha to assist in the establishment of this mission. He made arrangements to convey the Buddhist teachings to Australia straight away.