Phra Sompong, 28, goes anywhere he's invited to preach - from kindergartens to prisons. His sermons are popular and always draw laughter while being profound and heartfelt, because he integrates Buddhist teachings with trendy terms he reinvents from popular songs and TV commercials.

The resident monk of Soi Thong Temple in Bangkok's Bang Sue district said he had been inspired by renowned preachers like Phra Phayom Kalayano and impressed by the comic interplay of Phra Khru Palad Rachan Ariyo and Phra Maha Natthawat Jitrangsee, known as the Laurel and Hardy monks.

In a TV interview airing today, Sompong said he had been a good speaker since he was young and made his first public speech when he was the head of a class of novices at Soi Thong Temple. He read out public relations statements to temple patrons during festivals.

He joined the temple's debate team and became its captain. He won several debating prizes during his university days.

To catch the audience's attention, he relaxes them by making them laugh with his jokes reinvented from popular songs, before moving to basic teachings on subjects close to them, like love among family members or friends.

Breaking the ice was important because most people tended to think that sermons were boring and monks were fault-finders or critics rather than friends. The Buddhist tenets, however profound, would then be preached to them.

He had to prepare hard for prison sessions because of the many sensitive topics and phrases he needed to avoid so as not to blame or criticise the inmates for what they had done.

Teaching Buddhism to kindergarten kids was not as easy as most people think - the tots had short attention spans. The use of fables, cartoons or animated movies proved effective in making them listen and believe in good things taught to them in the process.

Sompong has several Dharma CD series on the market and dreams of seeing them on CD racks along with albums of star singers and selling equally well.