‘Left-field’ life: Briton becomes Thailand’s top foreign monk
Briton Shaun Chiverton, now a Thai Buddhist monk known as Ajahn Jayasaro, in Bangkok on Sept. 1 | AFP-JIJI
Sep 24, 2026
BANGKOK – From a working-class childhood on the southern English coast to the top foreign-born monk in Thailand, Shaun Chiverton’s quest for a better life has taken him further than most.
Five decades after he traveled to India to follow Buddha’s teachings, the 68-year-old this summer became the first non-Thai to be elevated to the rank of Somdet Phra Rachakhana, or royal monastic leader — the second-highest level in Thailand’s monkhood.
“My father said, ’Well, we always knew he’d do something weird, we just didn’t know what kind of weird it would be,’” the monk, now known as Ajahn (Teacher) Jayasaro, said with a smile.
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