The National Office of Buddhism (NoB) will submit a letter to American clothing brand Supreme to protest against its use of an image of late monk Luang Phor Koon Parisutho in its 2021 Spring/Summer collection.
It has sprung into action following the release of a preview of Supreme’s Blessings Ripstop Shirts, which feature the well-known image of the revered monk of Wat Ban Rai in Nakhon Ratchasima’s Dan Khun Thod district.
The image, which appears on the back of the shirts, is of the monk squatting and smoking. The shirts also feature several “yant” prints.
Luang Phor Koon died in 2015 and his body was at Khon Kaen University, where he donated it for medical students to study. Thousands of worshippers attended his royally-sponsored cremation in Khon Kaen in January 2019.
Sipboworn Kaewngam, an inspector and spokesman at the NoB,…
