response, in both a civil (phaen) and criminal (aya) lawsuit. The temple's lawyer stated that although Somdet Chuang and Luang Phi Pae had already forgiven the officers who charged them, the temple committee concluded that the temple's reputation had suffered greatly, and demanded the department take responsibility for their mistakes. The DSI responded that they "would definitely not charge" Luang Phi Pae anymore, after which Wat Paknam withdrew. Amendment Monastic Act (2016–18) On 29 December 2016, the National Legislative Assembly amended the 2005 Monastic Act to allow other monks than Somdet Chuang to be appointed Supreme Patriarch. Previously, this had been impossible because the law stipulated that the most senior patriarch (, phra racha khana) of the Sangha Council had to be appointed. Under the new amendment, which was reverting the Monastic Act to its 1992 version, any of the eight patriarchs in the Sangha Council could be appointed. The law was amended within one single day, which was highly unusual. In addition to the adjustments in the nomination process, more authority was given to the King, and less to the Sangha Council. The legislative assembly stated that, apart from the role of the King, they wanted to solve further conflict in the Sangha. They therefore decided to remove the Sangha Council from the process of appointing the Supreme Patriarch. While proponents considered the amendment a good way for politicians to solve the problems the Sangha had not been able to solve, opponents described the amendment as "sneaky" (). Chao Khun Prasarn stated the amendment showed a grave lack of respect for the Sangha Council's authority, because the council had not been involved in the amendment at all. He argued that the Monastic Act had always given the final authority to the King anyway, and pointed out that all conflicts about the appointment were caused by the National Reform Council (the junta), not by the Sangha. Despite these objections, on 10 January 2017, the Supreme Sangha Council officially withdrew its nomination of Somdet Chuang, stating that the new amendment had made their nomination moot. However, Somdet Chuang was still the Supreme Patriarch. Somdet Chuang himself did not join the council meeting, citing other business to attend to. Finally in February, Somdet Amborn was appointed by King Vajiralongkorn to serve as the next Supreme Patriarch. Before the withdrawal of the nomination, in 2015, Somdet Chuang retired from his supervision of missionary