Luang Pho Daeng of Wat Khao Bandai It
Luang Pho Daeng Ratto (หลวงพ่อแดง รตฺโต), called 龍婆錠, 龍婆定 or 龍波錠 in Chinese, spent much of his monastic life at Wat Khao Bandai It (วัดเขาบันไดอิฐ; 屈求紋打熱) in Phetchaburi. The monastery predates him. His practice, villagers’ requests for help, and the cloth talismans and portrait medals that later circulated added another chapter to the hill temple’s continuing history.
His lay name was Daeng Onsaeng. His parents, Paen and Num, farmed in Bang Chak, and he helped them as a boy. Biographies give either B.E. 2421 or 2422 as his birth year, with differing calculations of his final age and monastic seniority.
His younger brother Charoen Thammachoto became abbot of Wat Thong Nopphakhun, titled Phra Khru Panya Chotiwat. Both remained monks until death and later appeared together on a medal. A family account places Daeng fifth among twelve siblings; another nine-sibling account still awaits comparison with early records.
Ordination and teachers
His parents sent him to Ajahn Plian at the hill temple to enter monastic life and study. One account dates his ordination to B.E. 2441; another specifies 24 May B.E. 2444, with Phra Khru Yan Wisut (Phuang) of Wat Kaen Lek as preceptor, Plian as kammavaca teacher, and Am of Wat Thong Nopphakhun as anusavana teacher. Shorter accounts name Plian as preceptor instead. Both the year and ceremonial roles await clarification from ordination records.
Plian guided his meditation and yantra practice over many years. Biographies also name Luang Pho Chui (ฉุย) of Wat Khongkharam and Luang Pho Chaem (แช่ม) of Wat Takong, Nakhon Pathom. They reportedly visited Plian to meditate in the caves, giving Daeng opportunities to study with them. The devotee Sumet Tantivejkul (สุเมธ ตันติเวชกุล) remembered Daeng mentioning Chui and a teacher in Nakhon Pathom, but did not record the latter’s name; that recollection and the named biography remain distinct accounts.
Sumet recalled Daeng carrying two teachers’ medals, later stolen. He also retold an unnamed Nakhon Pathom teacher’s journey: the teacher left a train for water and missed its departure, yet disciples found him already at the temple. The story attributes shortened travel to that teacher, not Daeng.
Daily life as abbot
Daeng succeeded as abbot in B.E. 2461. As temple responsibilities grew, he continued daily meditation in the caves, maintaining the practice learned from his teacher. Accounts describe his small room, thin bedding and few possessions: the visitors’ glimpse of everyday life differed from the excitement surrounding his amulets below the hill.
He was remembered as kindly and averse to insults, especially those aimed at another person’s parents. He reminded visitors seeking protection that everyone had parents, and that abusive speech harmed their own good conduct. Respect for others and devotion to sacred objects were connected parts of life.
Sumet remembered his jokes. Once Daeng announced that he too could turn fresh water into seawater. While the listeners waited for a wonder, he explained with a laugh that river water eventually flowed into the gulf. Only then did they realise the elder had been teasing them.
Villagers seeking reassurance
Local tradition traces the cloths’ growing reputation to livestock epidemics between B.E. 2477 and 2480. As cattle and buffalo died, villagers sought help and tied his small blessed cloths to bamboo poles beside their enclosures. They related that animals in those enclosures survived, prompting more visitors to seek cloths. This devotional account should not be used as veterinary disease prevention.
During wartime, villagers also sought cloths out of concern for their families. Memories of Phetchaburi’s bombing include stories of homes believed protected by them. Another version, however, places portrait medals in the events of B.E. 2487, whereas the usual first-issue date is B.E. 2503. Object names and chronology have diverged as these stories circulated.
Sumet recalled his car overturning three times late in B.E. 2514, leaving him with only minor injuries. Daeng’s cloths were inside, and he believed they had protected him. When he later described the accident at the temple, the elder took no personal credit: he turned towards the shrine and offered thanks to the Triple Gem for timely help.
A disciple and the next generation
Boon Song Dhammapalo (บุญส่ง ธัมมปาโล) was a close disciple, later titled Phra Khru Sophon Phatthanakit and also known as Luang Pho Wok. After Daeng’s death, he succeeded as abbot of Khao Bandai It in B.E. 2517. Local information and a news account differ by one day on his earlier ordination date, which remains to be checked against monastic records.
Boon Song’s tenure included community development, broadcasting and educational support. These belong to the successor’s work; individual repairs, monastic education initiatives and donations undertaken by Daeng himself still lack equally detailed project records.
His obituary specifically credits Boon Song with promoting and supporting Phetchaburi’s national radio station. It also records an honorary degree for community development from Phetchaburi Rajabhat Institute on 20 August B.E. 2544. These are Boon Song’s achievements, not records of Daeng founding broadcasting or higher-education institutions.
Beyond the portrait medals
The first portrait medal of B.E. 2503 is many collectors’ introduction to Daeng. A collecting account connects its origin with his ecclesiastical award on 5 December B.E. 2502: the temple issued commemorative medals the following year. Award and production were thus separate events; the precise award date still awaits comparison with official documentation.
A B.E. 2511 issue is called Mae Thap Sang, the commander-sponsored medal. Production accounts name Lieutenant General Samran Phaetthakun, First Army commander, as sponsor and the Treasury mint as designer and manufacturer. They report 48,000 copper pieces, gold and silver by advance order, and alpaca alloy. Its inscription commemorates ninety years on 11 April 2511; the reverse bears the First Army emblem. This inscription does not resolve the conflicting birth years.
A related tradition calls it Puen Taek, the broken-gun issue. After Daeng’s individual blessing, a consecration and five-day celebration reportedly followed. Soldiers testing the medals with gunfire were said to have damaged their guns. Such tests must not be imitated; an amulet does not guarantee protection from bullets.
The B.E. 2512 two-brothers medal portrays Daeng and Charoen. Its production story connects fundraising for Wat Thong Nopphakhun’s repairs with loud reports during consecration: the ordination hall remained intact, and the sounds ceased when the ceremony ended. Hence the name Bot Lan (โบสถ์ลั่น).
Powder amulets have a separate production story. Accounts of Phra Phong Yan Wilat name Prasong Choemphon as a lay collector and donor of materials, with moulding and consecration taking place in stages commonly dated between B.E. 2509 and 2513. Somdet, Pidta and Nang Phaya forms appear in records of this group, distinct from the first metal portrait medal.
Chinese collectors sometimes call the yellow appearance of certain B.E. 2513 powder amulets ‘curry’. The visual description does not mean every object carrying that name has the same recipe. Accounts disagree about the number of temples and ceremonies associated with the materials; study of each object still requires comparison of mould, composition and provenance.
His death and later temple memory
Daeng died at the temple on 16 January B.E. 2517, at the recorded time of 21:05. Disciples related that he instructed Boon Song to preserve his body in the chanting hall rather than cremate it, with a first-issue medal and a phot duang coin, and to apply turmeric. The precise wording varies; this preserves the substance of the recollection.
A posthumous story tells of a Phetchaburi elder dreaming of a well beneath a large rain tree. Excavation reportedly uncovered the well and a white plaster naga head at its bottom. Villagers came for water but found a large snake coiled beneath the corrugated metal cover; some described a crest on its head. They no longer dared draw water there.
Later visitors continued to pay respects before his body and recall his life through portraits and sacred objects. An official report in B.E. 2566 records celebrations for the hilltop Phra Phuttha Wachira Prathan Phon image and describes the preservation of Daeng’s body. These were developments by later generations, many years after his death.