Ayutthaya's king, Taksin, in going north to suppress the Phra Fang faction, had seen that monks in the north were lax and undisciplined.

He invites ecclesiastical dignitaries from the capital to teach those monks and bring them back in line with the main teachings of Buddhism.

Taksin has applied himself to reforming the Buddhist religion after its period of decline following the loss of Ayutthaya to Burma, gradually bringing it back to the normality it had enjoyed during the Ayutthaya kingdom.

He is unable to do very much, however, since his reign is so brief.

The administration of the Sangha during the Thonburi period follows the model established in Ayutthaya: Taksin allows French missionaries to enter Thailand, and, like a previous Thai king, helps them build a church in 1780.