One portion will be enshrined in a chedi to be built at a later date, while the second will be distributed to temples of his disciples around the country.

The meeting, chaired by Luang Phor Inthawai Santusasko, the abbot of Wat Pa Nakham Noi in Udon Thani, yesterday agreed that three senior monks, Luang Pu Chansi Chantatheepo, Phra Ajahn Boonpeng Khemathirato and Phra Ajahn Thawat, would take part in the ceremony to gather the ashes, which would then be placed in a chest with nine locks.

The late monk raised funds to ease the country's hardship after the 1997 economic crisis.