webfact Posted May 16, 2019 Share Posted May 16, 2019 Former monks jailed for laundering state-provided funds By THE NATION TWO FORMER senior monks have been sentenced to prison terms for laundering state-provided temple funds. The Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases convicted Uen Klinsalee, known as Phra Promdilok when he was abbot of Wat Sam Phraya, and handed down a six-year jail sentence. Somsong Attakij, formerly Phra Attakijsopon, the assistant abbot, was jailed for three years. Uen’s prison term is longer because of his higher position at the temple. He had been widely respected as a monk and at the time of his arrest last year was also chief of Bangkok’s monastic society and a member of the Sangha Supreme Council. He and Somsong were convicted of pocketing Bt5 million the state provided their temple under the General Buddhist Scripture Schools project. The court was told Wat Sam Phraya never had a school and dismissed the defendants’ claims that they thought the money from the National Buddhism Office (NBO) was meant for the construction of temple buildings. It noted that the temple was separately granted Bt8 million for construction. Bt3.5 million of the Bt5 million allocated for the non-existent school was immediately transferred to the bank account of Wipaporn Udomchokepiti, who claimed the money was advance payment for the construction project. Though the woman withdrew some of the money to finance the construction of buildings, it was surmised that she benefited by earning interest on the deposit. The defendants’ lawyer, Koson Saisuwan, said they would definitely file an appeal. More than 50 supporters of the former monks were in court yesterday. The accused were dressed in white, having lost the right to wear saffron following their arrest. They have been held at Bangkok Remand Prison since May 24 last year and never sought bail. Koson said he would now do so. “It’s clear that the state budget was really used for the construction of temple buildings, so [bail] shouldn’t be a problem,” Koson said. “It’s not corruption.” Monastic societies were engulfed in scandal last year when several senior monks and high-ranking NBO officials, were involved in the misuse of temple funds. Several former monks have since been imprisoned. The Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases last month sentenced Somkiat Khanthong – formerly Phra Khru Kitti Patcharakhun – to 26 years in jail for laundering state-provided temple funds. Somkiat had been abbot of Wat Lad Khae in Phetchabun and monastic chief in the province’s Chon Daen district. Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30369536 -- © Copyright The Nation 2019-05-17 Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking Thailand news and visa info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stanleycoin Posted May 16, 2019 Share Posted May 16, 2019 Good Monks in Bad Monks out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lungstib Posted May 16, 2019 Share Posted May 16, 2019 And thats one of the 3 pillars supposedly holding up Thailand. Talk about a shaky foundation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebell Posted May 17, 2019 Share Posted May 17, 2019 They are appealing to a higher authority; Heaven? Why is there always an appeal right up to emigrating to Saudi? When do Thai miscreants ever hold their hands up and say, 'it's a fair cop, gov.' I know there's no such thing as a fair cop in Thailand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkidlad Posted May 17, 2019 Share Posted May 17, 2019 31 minutes ago, mikebell said: They are appealing to a higher authority; Heaven? Why is there always an appeal right up to emigrating to Saudi? When do Thai miscreants ever hold their hands up and say, 'it's a fair cop, gov.' I know there's no such thing as a fair cop in Thailand. The first step to taking responsibility for your transgressions is to be able to understand and acknowledge you've done something wrong. If people can't do that, they basically end up sticking their fingers in their ears chanting, "la la la la" when confronted about their actions. Bad people don't scare me. It's bad people who don't think they're doing anything wrong and it's their right to do as they please that bother me. These 'pillars of society' above will be this very kind of person. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nowisee Posted May 17, 2019 Share Posted May 17, 2019 rkidlad: That sounds like the definition of a sociopath. 555 The corruption here is probably more complex and prevalent than the everyday thai person fully understands and it will continue past my lifetime. This is what's destroying the social structure of this country. Good foreigners in and bad foreigners out? No... Smart foreigner out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burma Bill Posted May 17, 2019 Share Posted May 17, 2019 The laundering offences finally "came out in the wash"!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P Funk Posted May 17, 2019 Share Posted May 17, 2019 I have always felt that anyone lying to the police should serve a minimum 3 years in the clink. Likewise, any cop or prosecutor who knowingly lies or breaks the law in prosecuting a case should also be punished with the same punishment they were asking for the defendant. That would clean up the system and get the cops off their lazy <deleted>. Should be the same worldwide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkidlad Posted May 17, 2019 Share Posted May 17, 2019 1 hour ago, Nowisee said: rkidlad: That sounds like the definition of a sociopath. 555 The corruption here is probably more complex and prevalent than the everyday thai person fully understands and it will continue past my lifetime. This is what's destroying the social structure of this country. Good foreigners in and bad foreigners out? No... Smart foreigner out. Well, a sociopath in a country that has a strong sense of law and order may not understand why their actions are wrong, but they'll know there are consequences for them. We can't always expect people to do the right thing so we have to enforce laws to keep people in check. If people aren't held accountable for their actions, they may well literally not know that they're doing something wrong. A criminal charge would be a real shock to the system for them. Sociopath or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hotchilli Posted May 17, 2019 Share Posted May 17, 2019 3 hours ago, Lungstib said: And thats one of the 3 pillars supposedly holding up Thailand. Talk about a shaky foundation. The only thing in Thailand you can guarantee and that's is "where there's money there's corruption. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
animalmagic Posted May 17, 2019 Share Posted May 17, 2019 Sorry to be picky. but I was always under the impression that laundering of money is when you take ill gotten gains from criminal enterprise and the pass it through the system using various methods until it appears to have originated from legally obtained money. The headline says laundering state provided funds...……...aah, now I see the connection! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbezoz Posted May 17, 2019 Share Posted May 17, 2019 5 hours ago, Lungstib said: And thats one of the 3 pillars supposedly holding up Thailand. Talk about a shaky foundation. 5 million. Chicken feed. Just the tip of the corrupt Thai Buddhist and government supported iceberg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatOngo Posted May 17, 2019 Share Posted May 17, 2019 To think that Buddha said "Take only what is given". He would cry under his bodhi tree if he could see how his teachings were applied in the country! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatOngo Posted May 17, 2019 Share Posted May 17, 2019 Maybe they were planning to BUY their own slice of Nirvana! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.