Analysts from different news outlets have pointed out that the actions of the Thai government towards Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen may have reflected a political need to control who should be selected as the next Supreme Patriarch, since Somdet had already been proposed as a candidate by the Sangha Supreme Council. Selecting him would mean a Supreme Patriarch from the Maha Nikaya fraternity, rather than the Dhammayuttika fraternity, which historically has always been the preferred choice of the Thai government and the monarchy. In fact, Somdet Chuang's nomination was postponed and eventually withdrawn after the Thai government changed the law in December 2016 to allow King Vajiralongkorn to appoint the Supreme Patriarch directly, with Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha countersigning, leading to the appointment of a monk from the Dhammayuttika fraternity instead. The Thai government cited several reasons for this, including the car. At the end of the same year, however, prosecutors decided not to charge Somdet Chuang, but to charge his assistant abbot instead, and another six people who had part in importing the vintage car. In February 2016, in a protest organized by the National Centre for the Protection of Thai Buddhism, a Red Shirt-oriented network, the example of Phra Phimontham was also cited as demands were made for the Thai government to no longer involve itself with the selection of the next leader of the Sangha.