The life and lineage of Luang Pho Jong of Wat Na Tang Nok
Luang Pho Jong Phutthasaro, with the ecclesiastical title Phra Athikan, served as abbot of Wat Na Tang Nok in Bang Sai, Ayutthaya, for fifty-eight years. He entered monastic life as a child, studied with local teachers and became a moral teacher in his community. His name is also remembered in connection with the Franco-Thai conflict, red yantra shirts and the grouping “Chat–Jong–Khong–I.”
Childhood and ordination
Jong was born in Na Mai, Bang Sai, Ayutthaya. The government-hosted temple history gives B.E. 2415, a Thursday in the Year of the Monkey; the district directory adds March, and another version specifies 6 March. Subtracting 543 gives 6 March 1872, a Wednesday. A spring year-boundary could instead involve 1873, when 6 March was a Thursday. That match alone cannot establish which calendar was intended, so the exact birthday remains unresolved.
His father was Yot and his mother Khlip, also written Khrip. Jong was the eldest of three children. His brother Nil later ordained as Dhammachoti; his sister was Nang Prit Sunsamoson. Biographical accounts remember a frail, quiet child with poor sight and hearing who disliked crowds and sometimes needed relatives to guide him outside. Disciples also transmitted a story of his health improving after he entered monastic life. This is a devotional recollection, not medical evidence that ordination cures illness.
The temple history says Jong became a novice at Wat Na Tang Nai at eleven; another account says twelve. He continued studying there and later received full ordination in its consecrated boundary. The history gives B.E. 2435 and age twenty-one. Counting completed years from B.E. 2415 suggests B.E. 2436, but this is a calculation, not a date found in a second ordination register. Age-counting conventions, the old year-boundary or copying may affect the discrepancy. B.E. 2435 remains the documented version, with the exact date and age awaiting the original record.
Luang Pho Sun of Wat Bang Pla Mo was his preceptor. The government scan names Phra Achan In of Wat Na Tang Nok as kammavacacariya and Phra Achan Pho of Wat Na Tang Nai as anusavanacariya, after which Jong received the name Phutthasaro. Another account reverses the latter two offices. The Pali name is พุทฺธสโร; modern Thai spellings also include พุทธสโร and พุทธัสสโร.
After ordination, Jong remained at Wat Na Tang Nai with Phra Achan Pho, studying Thai and Khmer script, Buddhist teachings and monastic discipline. His meditation and associated training also brought him to Luang Pho Sun of Wat Bang Pla Mo and Luang Pho Pan of Wat Phikun, called Wat Phikun Sokan in some accounts. His education encompassed reading religious texts, keeping the precepts and cultivating the mind, alongside the sacred writing and protective practices transmitted by teachers of that period.
Leading the monastery and teaching disciples
In B.E. 2450 the abbacy of Wat Na Tang Nok became vacant. The community invited Jong and the Sangha appointed him to the office. He remained abbot until his death in B.E. 2508, a period of fifty-eight years. The district learning directory describes his ideals as strict observance of precepts, governing his own mind, abiding in the four brahmaviharas and keeping truth, while teaching others not to lie.
One documented disciple was Luang Pho Mee Khemathammo (หลวงพ่อมี เขมธัมโม) of Wat Marawichai in Sena, Ayutthaya. His temple biography describes nearly 30 years of study with Jong, repeated journeys between the two monasteries, close assistance with his teacher’s work and care for him until his death.
Official summaries describe Jong’s development of Wat Na Tang Nok and service to the Buddhist community, without listing every school, bridge or building. The monastery remains a district religious and learning site, with a memorial to Jong. Provincial authorities have also participated in memorial construction and the annual Phra That Chedi Si Bang Sai festival.
Accounts of his daily life describe chanting around 4–5 a.m. and 6 p.m., except during illness or travel, followed by meditation for roughly half an hour to an hour. He received rich and poor alike, sometimes rising from rest to help, and would give away even the bag he was using when asked.
Wartime shirts and protective traditions
Jong's reputation expanded nationally during the Franco-Thai conflict around B.E. 2483–2484. An academic study of the Thai Sangha's role in that conflict cites Jong's B.E. 2509 cremation memorial and describes sets of takrut and red cloth yantra shirts called the “red shirts of Luang Pho Jong.” Some shirts were made by devotees and brought to him for consecration before being distributed to soldiers, field police and civilians. The work therefore involved devotees as well as the consecrating monk; Jong did not necessarily sew every shirt himself. Never test weapons against these objects or their wearers.
The study describes the monks’ wartime role in strengthening the morale of those sent into the field. Jong received invitations from government and private groups and was frequently away from the monastery during the crisis. Stories passed down through military and disciple recollections tell of wearers surviving gunfire unharmed, bombs failing to explode and consecrated sand protecting whole areas.
“Chat–Jong–Khong–I” brings together Luang Pho Chat of Wat Bang Krabao, Jong, Luang Pho Khong of Wat Bang Kaphom and Luang Pho I of Wat Sattahip in the memory of the wartime period. Scholarship supports their shared public role in morale and protective belief. The phrase does not describe a joint manufacturer, prove one teacher-disciple lineage, or authenticate every object marketed under the four names. Each object has its own sponsoring temple, date, ceremony, consecrators and provenance.
Amulets and support for education
Objects associated with Jong include red yantra shirts, takrut sets and single takrut, yantra cloth, portrait medals, powder amulets, cast and struck portraits, pendant photographs, Nang Kwak images and pla tapian fish charms. Collector chronologies commonly call a B.E. 2484 medal connected with construction of a chanting hall his first issue, distinguish large and small B.E. 2485 medals, and then list cast day-of-the-week images of B.E. 2493–2494, a seven-cycle medal of B.E. 2499 and the B.E. 2503 “Kan Phai” portrait. This is a common collecting chronology rather than a complete temple production register; individual issues still have variant accounts.
Accounts of the B.E. 2499 seven-cycle medal connect its inscription-backed version with funding a new building for Wat Na Tang Nai (Jong Nil Upatham) School. Jong’s brother Nil, the temple committee and local educators reportedly organised it. This was a school-building fundraiser, not the school’s founding by Jong; original financial and construction records remain to be checked.
Pla tapian fish charms and Nang Kwak images take several forms: woven or metal three-dimensional fish, paired fish charms and medals bearing Nang Kwak on one face and a fish on the other. Similar names can cover different occasions, materials, sizes, techniques, designs and purposes. Devotees associate these objects with commerce, attraction and protection. Their dates and authenticity, however, depend on the objects and their provenance, not on a shared name or attributed benefit.
Consecrations and stories told by disciples
The temple history records Jong’s participation in a major consecration at Wat Prasat Bunyawat in Bangkok in B.E. 2506, alongside other senior monks. His role was that of an invited consecrator, not the maker of every object issued by that temple. A matching year alone does not establish that he personally consecrated an object in a separate ceremony.
Tradition relates that Jong and Pho Than Khlai stayed with a disciple during that Bangkok visit. Asked for holy water, Khlai filled a bottle from one consecrated glassful. Jong requested only an empty bottle; after chanting, water flowed from his hand into it. Khlai asked to be carried over to pay respect, praising Jong as a “golden monk.” Other stories tell of Jong arriving before his escorts and appearing young again.
Phra Maha Vira Thavaro recalled going by boat to collect Jong for Pan’s hall celebration at Wat Bang Nom Kho. Four visitors awaited holy water; Jong told him to return first and said he would walk. Back at the hall, Vira found Jong already seated at the head of the row. Jong teased him that the boat had been slower than walking.
Death and remembrance
Jong died peacefully in his residence at 1:55 a.m. on 17 February B.E. 2508, Wednesday 17 February 1965. The temple history gives ninety-two years, ten months and seventeen days, with seventy-two rains; another version gives ninety-two years and seventy-one rains. His birthday, the recorded ordination year B.E. 2435 and the calculated B.E. 2436 remain unresolved, as do the two rain counts. An academic bibliography lists Wisit Jirawut’s concise biography, สังเขปประวัติเจ้าพระคุณหลวงพ่อจง…, printed for the cremation on 6 March B.E. 2509. Its original text has not yet been located.
The memorial at Wat Na Tang Nok, the casting of a replica heart, annual ceremonies and collecting activities continue to keep Jong’s memory alive.
On 24 January B.E. 2558 (2015), Princess Bajrakitiyabha took part in casting Jong’s replica heart and laying the memorial’s foundation stone. The then abbot, Phra Khru Sombun Chariyatham, the temple committee and devotees organised the ceremony. This was a posthumous memorial project.
The temple held its Phra That Chedi Si Bang Sai festival on 20–24 March B.E. 2567 (2024), with provincial representatives attending the opening. Devotees paid homage, applied gold leaf to Jong’s image and venerated a relic held to be his right index finger. These ceremonies continue the community’s remembrance of him.