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lay community which they had to honour, principally teaching. Town monks were always in the public eye, and instead of being enticed by the temptations of the outside world, often found themselves forced to be stricter than their fellow monks in the forest who had considerably more insulation from the high expectations of their supporters. Interaction with other people and the commitment to teach was the touchstone for self-improvement used by the town monks. Forest monks, on the other hand, used nature as the touchstone for self-improvement. The majority of monks in Siam were town monks even though, during Luang Phaw Wat Paknam's life, support for the monks in town had become sporadic. Usually, the monks in the provinces and the forests were better provided for than their fellow monks in the town. Town monks, however, had more opportunities to further their monastic education and receive monastic recognition through titles. Monastic education had been standardized towards the 'Pahrean' system since the Siamese capital was moved to Bangkok in the reign of H.M. King Rama I (Phraputha-yodfa-chulalok, 1782-1809). The curriculum from the Ayuddhaya period was retained to form a curriculum and examination system in which monks would practise translation of Vinaya, Suttanta and the Ultimate Realities [paramattha], taking examinations until reaching the highest of three levels of advancement. In the reign of H.M. King Rama II (Phrabuddha-lertla-naphalai, 1809-1824), the Supreme Patriarch revised the educational system to create a nine-tiered examination system with examinations held every year.