 Phothirak sidestepped the defrocking by abandoning his yellow robes for white ones and refraining from calling himself a monk.In 2007–2008 Santi Asoke monks presented themselves in brown robes again.Apart from Bhotirak many of them were ordained in the orthodox manner before they joined Santi Asoke; they remained monks, albeit without the "monks' pass" issued by the monastic hierarchy.