Phra Dabot (พระดาบส)

Thai. ‘Anchorite’. Another term for reusi or munih, i.e. a hermit or an ascetic, a character who in traditional Thai literature is usually identified with wisdom, the sage to whom people turn for advise. As such, the name was chosen for a royal project initiated in 1976 by King Bhumipon Adunyadet, in order to provide non-informal education for those who lack the means necessary to enroll in formal education, akin to the hermits in folktales, in which anybody wishing to gain knowledge would go to the woods to find a hermit. If the hermit was convinced the person had sufficient determination, he would provide them with both practical and moral teachings. Often transcribed Phra Dabos, especially when used for the royal project, which is in English known as the Phra Dabos Project or the Phra Dabos Foundation. See USE OF THAI CONSONANTS. 回