Phra
Phrom Dilok, 72, a member of the Sangha Supreme Council is escorted by
police officers at the Thai Police Crime Suppression Division
headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand, May 24, 2018. Source: Reuters
SEVERAL prominent Buddhist monks and worshippers were arrested in
Thailand on Thursday after police raided four temples in this year’s
biggest operation to crackdown on illicit financial activities.
The raids are the military government’s latest bid to reform Buddhism,
which is followed by more than 90 percent of Thailand’s population of 69
million, but whose image has been tarnished by money and sex scandals
involving monks.
“This is the investigation stage… it will all come down to facts and
evidence,” police official Thitiraj Nhongharnpitak, of the Central
Investigation Bureau, which is investigating the monks, told reporters.
According to The Nation,
more than 100 officers from the Crime Suppression Division and the
Technology Crime Suppression Division, armed with court warrants, the
searched raided four temples in Bangkok, the capital, central province
of Nakhon Pathom, early Thursday.
Among those arrested was Phra Buddha Issara, 62, an activist monk who
led street protests in 2014 and launched a campaign to clean up
Buddhism, but gained enemies by publicly naming other religious leaders
he accused of wrongdoing.
He was held over a robbery said to have been committed during the anti-government protest in 2014, police said.
Phra Phrom Dilok, 72, a member of the Sangha Supreme Council, which
governs Buddhist monks in Thailand, was arrested over alleged
embezzlement of temple funds, they added.
An unidentified assistant abbot of Golden Mount Temple is escorted by
police officers at the Thai Police Crime Suppression Division
headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand, May 24, 2018.
Two other senior monks, Phra Sri Khunaporn and Phra Wichit Thammaporn,
both assistant abbots of Bangkok’s Golden Mount temple, were also
arrested over alleged embezzlement, police said.
A representative for Buddha Issara, who declined to be identified,
expressed concern. “We are concerned because we do not know what Phra
Buddha Issara is being charged with,” he told Reuters.
Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said the arrests were about
getting to the bottom of the allegations. “This is part of the
investigation,” Prawit said.
Thailand’s temples, which earn billions of dollars every year from
donations, have been embroiled in scandals ranging from murder, sex and
drugs to shady financial dealings.
Under pressure from the junta, Thailand’s body of Buddhist monks has
been trying to clean up its own act since last year, by enforcing
tougher discipline for more than 300,000 monks.
The military took power in a 2014 coup it said was needed to restore
order after months of anti-government protests, and has promised to hold
elections next year, despite postponing the date several times.
Buddhist monks are highly respected in Thailand and taking action
against them was historically considered taboo. But recent scandals have
forced authorities to rethink how they handle allegations against
Buddhist religious leaders.
