Won Luang Phor Ruay (วอนหลวงพ่อรวย): meaning and key lines
Monkaen Kaenkoonมนต์แคน แก่นคูน
What the song is about
วอนหลวงพ่อรวยwawn lǔang-pâw ruay, “Won Luang Phor Ruay (Praying to Luang Phor Ruay)”, is a luk thung song by Monkaen Kaenkoon (2019). A man down on his luck goes to Wat Tako in Ayutthaya to bow before the late abbot Luang Phor Ruay, whose name means 'rich', and asks him for help. With more than 450 million views, it shows how many Thais turn to a revered monk in hard times, and it teaches the words of a temple visit: to bow down, to ask for a blessing, to chant and to worship, and how to say please, from everyday to formal.
Free, no sign-up: learn the key lines and words with audio, then sing along.
Song facts
- Artist
- Monkaen Kaenkoon
- Released
- 2019
- Style
- Luk thung
- Level
- B2 (upper intermediate)
- Mood
- devout, hopeful, down on his luck
- Views
- about 457M (Oct 2026)
- Video
- Monkaen Kaenkoon OFFICIAL (official artist channel)
- Lyrics
- Key lines quoted; the full song is in the video
Key lines, explained
Tap a line to hear it. Once the video is playing, lines jump to their moment in the song.
- หอบ hàwpใจ jaiโซๆ soo-sooมา maaวัด wátตะโก dtà-gooกราบ gràapหลวงพ่อ lǔang-pâwรวย ruay
Carrying my starving heart, I come to Wat Tako to bow before Luang Phor Ruay.
หอบhàwp = to carry in your arms, an armful: he brings his heart along like a bundle. โซsoo = starving, worn out, as in หิวโซhǐu soo, starving; in Isan it also means poor and sickly. มาmaa + place = to come to. กราบgràap = to bow down to the floor, the deepest bow: Thais กราบgràap three times before a Buddha image or a monk. หลวงพ่อlǔang-pâw, 'venerable father', is what Thais call an old, respected monk, and รวยruay, rich, is this monk's own name. - ขอพร kǎw-pawnหลวงพ่อ lǔang-pâwช่วย chûayที tii
I ask you for a blessing, Luang Phor: please help me.
ขอพรkǎw-pawn = to ask for a blessing (พรpawn = a blessing). Thais ask for blessings from monks, Buddha images and elders, at New Year and on birthdays. He speaks to the monk as หลวงพ่อlǔang-pâw: in Thai a title often stands for 'you'. ช่วยchûay = to help, and ทีtii, 'once', after a request makes it a plea: ช่วยทีchûay tii = help me, please! - ตั้ง dtângนะโม ná-mooสาม sǎamจบ jòpต่อ dtàwด้วย dûayคาถา kaa-tǎaบูชา buu-chaaหลวงพ่อ lǔang-pâw
I chant the Namo three times, then the verse that honours Luang Phor.
This is how Thai chanting begins. นะโมná-moo is the first word of the Pali homage to the Buddha, said three times before any chant: ตั้งนะโมdtâng ná-moo, to 'set up' the Namo, is to begin with it. จบjòp, to end, also counts how many times a chant is said through: สามจบsǎam jòp = three times. ต่อด้วยdtàw dûay = followed by. คาถาkaa-tǎa = a chant, a verse in Pali believed to bring blessings, and บูชาbuu-chaa = to worship, to honour: คาถาบูชาkaa-tǎa buu-chaa + name = the verse that honours someone. The label's lyric sheet writes the three as a digit, 3. - ให้ hâiลูก lûukได้ dâiรวย ruayกับ gàpเขา kǎoบ้าง bâangนะ ná
Let me get rich like other people, for once.
He calls himself ลูกlûuk, child, and the monk พ่อpâw, father, as Thais do with a monk they revere. ให้hâi + person + ได้dâi + verb = let someone get to…: ให้ลูกได้รวยhâi lûuk dâi ruay = let me get rich. กับเขาgàp kǎo, 'with them', here means like other people, and บ้างbâang = too, for a change: ไปเที่ยวบ้างbpai tîaw bâang = to go out for once. รวยruay, rich, is also the monk's name, a coincidence the song plays on. - พ่อ pâwรวย ruayโปรด bpròotช่วย chûayชี้ทาง chíi-taang
Father Ruay, please show me the way.
พ่อรวยpâw ruay, Father Ruay, is the warm, short way to name Luang Phor Ruay. โปรดbpròot + verb = please, the formal word of signs and prayers: โปรดถอดรองเท้าbpròot tàwt rawng-táao = please take off your shoes; โปรดช่วยbpròot chûay = please help. ชี้ทางchíi-taang = to show the way, from ชี้chíi, to point, and ทางtaang, way. He holds the last word for a long time before the chant that follows.
Words you'll learn
- กราบ gràap
to bow down to the floor
- หลวงพ่อ lǔang-pâw
venerable father (an older monk)
A younger monk is หลวงพี่lǔang-pîi, 'venerable older brother'.
- ขอพร kǎw-pawn
to ask for a blessing
พรpawn = a blessing; ให้พรhâi pawn = to bless someone.
- คาถา kaa-tǎa
a chant, a sacred verse (in Pali)
- บูชา buu-chaa
to worship, to pay homage to
พระบูชาprá buu-chaa = a Buddha image kept for worship at home.
- รวย ruay
rich
- ชี้ทาง chíi-taang
to show the way, to guide
- หอบ hàwp
to carry in your arms
- นะโม ná-moo
Namo (the homage that opens a chant)
- ตะโก dtà-goo
Tako (a village in Ayutthaya)
วัดตะโกwát dtà-goo = Tako temple. ตะโกdtà-goo is also the name of a tree, a kind of ebony.
Slang and casual Thai
- โซ soo
starving, worn out
หิวโซhǐu soo = starving. In Isan โซsoo also means poor and sickly. Doubled, โซๆsoo-soo stresses it.
Grammar in this song
Please, from everyday to formal. ช่วยchûay + verb = please (do it for me): ช่วยด้วยchûay dûay = help! ช่วยทีchûay tii = please help me, a plea. โปรดbpròot + verb = please, on signs, in announcements and in prayers: โปรดช่วยชี้ทางbpròot chûay chíi-taang = please show me the way.
Let me…: ให้hâi + person + ได้dâi + verb. ให้ลูกได้รวยhâi lûuk dâi ruay (let me get rich), ให้ฉันได้พักบ้างhâi chǎn dâi pák bâang (let me have a rest for once).
Counting times. ครั้งkráng is the everyday 'time': กราบสามครั้งgràap sǎam kráng = to bow three times. A chant said through from start to end is counted with จบjòp: สวดสามจบsùat sǎam jòp = to chant it three times.
The culture behind it
Luang Phor Ruay. Luang Phor Ruay Pasathiko (หลวงพ่อรวยlǔang-pâw ruay) was the abbot of Wat Tako in Phachi district, Ayutthaya, and one of the best-known monks of his time; he died on 19 July 2017, aged 95 (Ayutthaya Province). His name means 'rich', and his temple is known for amulets, small blessed images worn for protection and luck, in series with names like 'Rich and Prosperous' and 'Double Rich' (MCU Kanchana Review, 2021). People come from all over the country to pay their respects, ask for blessings and take amulets home. His body lies in a glass coffin in the temple's great golden chedi, open to visitors every day (Go Ayutthaya, the province's tourism site; Sanook, 2022).
The song. Monkaen Kaenkoon released it on his own YouTube channel on 15 July 2019 as a 'special song', with words and music by Sala Khunnawut; the video opens by thanking the temple's abbot, Achan Kaew, and shows the chedi and its crowds. It passed 200 million views by January 2021 (Sanook). A 2021 article in the journal of a campus of Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya, Thailand's Buddhist university for monks, read its success as a sign of hard times, when many people turned to Luang Phor Ruay for hope during the COVID-19 epidemic, and reminded readers that the Buddha also taught people to rely on themselves.
At a temple. If you visit one, take off your shoes before you go into a hall, dress modestly and don't point your feet at a Buddha image or a monk. Our pages on temple etiquette and monks and merit explain the rest.
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Written by the Learn Thai For Free team
Audio: AI voices, quality-checked for tones