Wat, who and why? Thai PM wants to bring monk Dhammajayo to justice.

[webfact]

Wat, who and why? Thai PM wants to bring monk Dhammajayo to justice.

By The Thaiger

 

 

Government opposition MPs are questioning the motives of the Thai PM to take over the reigns of the Department of Special Investigations. Some say it’s retribution for failing to being to justice the fugitive monk, and spiritual leader of the Wat (Temple) Phra Dhammakaya, Luang Por Dhammajayo.

 

At least one advocate of the fugitive monk Dhammakaya is a government MP, and the opposition is apparently “crawling with supporters” of the controversial Wat Phra Dhammakaya. Many others consider the temple a cult and little to do with real Buddhism.

 

To add to that, a key suspect in the Klongchan Credit Union Cooperative embezzlement scandal is the fugitive former abbot Luang Por Dhammajayo who remains immensely popular but has evaded attempts to question or arrest him since charges were brought against him. His supporters say he vows to face justice if and when when Thailand returns to civil rule.

 

Wat Dhammakaya is situated north of Bangkok in Pathum Thani and resembles a Disney space exhibit more than a traditional Buddhist temple.

 

A bit of background…

 

In 2015 the temple was implicated in the Klongchan Credit Union controversy when 11.37 billion baht was taken out of the Klongchan Credit Union Cooperative using dodgy cheques – some of those involved a billion baht given to the Wat Phra Dhammakaya as “donations”. Temple elders claim that Luang Por Dhammajayo was unaware that the donations were obtained illegally.

 

The Temple tried to settle the situation by negotiating directly with the credit union. But the Department of Special Investigations (DSI) summoned Luang Por Dhammajayo to acknowledge charges of fraud and conspiring to launder money at their Bangkok offices.

 

The temple requested the DSI to let him acknowledge his charges at the temple due to his deep vein thrombosis, a request refused by the DSI. When Luang Por Dhammajayo failed to appear at the DSI office to acknowledge his charges authorities launched several failed raids of the temple to search for the head abbot and laid hundreds of additional charges on the temple.

 

Luang Por Dhammajayo, the elusive head abbot of the controversial Wat Phra Dhammakaya

 

The ugly standoff between the saffron-robed monks and security authorities was the only major demonstration against the Thai junta since the coup in 2014.

 

The temple was in full lock down for 23 days in 2017 on orders from the junta using Article 44. The NCPO copped plenty of criticism during the time over their handling of the case. On December 20, 2017, Thai authorities emerged from the temple, empty handed. Luang Por Dhammajayo had, somehow, alluded authorities despite his alleged illnesses.

 

But the lawsuits are still in play.

 

Cut to 2019 with a new government and the PM Prayut Chan-o-cha, still smarting over the entire incident – and the loss of face – has made himself ‘overseer’ of the DSI, allegedly to supervise future actions against the wayward temple and the fugitive monk.

 

That is being denied, but speculation about Prayut’s motives persist.

 

Analysts foresee a prolonged and heavily-politicised legal saga, in which Dhammachayo could eventually resurface to be granted bail. Others suggest negotiations have been in play since the Junta’s failed mission to extract him from the temple.

 

Meanwhile, the temple’s current efforts to ordain 5,000 monks in the next few days are seen by some as a strictly religious affair and others as a strategic move aimed at making the authorities think twice before taking any drastic steps to avoid another messy protest and barricading of the temple by monks – a bad look in international media.

 

Justice Minister Somsak Thepsuthin is denying speculation that PM Prayut Chan-o-cha decided to take charge of the DSI by himself because he “wanted to speed up certain cases such as the Klongchan Credit Union Cooperative scandal”.

 

Somsak says Prayut only wanted to coordinate between the police and military on national security matters and would not interfere with any on-going case.

 

For now, the former Dhammakaya Temple abbot, Dhammachayo, remains elusive, probably overseas.

 

The unorthodox temple, often associated with “certain leading politicians” on the opposite side of Prayut, according to Thai PBS, is being forced to deny involvement in the cooperative embezzlement case.

 

 

Source: https://thethaiger.com/news/bangkok/wat-who-and-why-thai-pm-wants-to-bring-monk-dhammajayo-to-justice

 

 

-- © Copyright The Thaiger 2019-08-05

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[PatOngo]

11 minutes ago, webfact said:

Thai PM wants to bring monk Dhammajayo to justice.

You and who's army? You had the opportunity but he got a leg over you!

[Chang_paarp]

49 minutes ago, webfact said:

His supporters say he vows to face justice if and when when Thailand returns to civil rule.

I like this quote.

49 minutes ago, webfact said:

 

The temple requested the DSI to let him acknowledge his charges at the temple due to his deep vein thrombosis, a request refused by the DSI. When Luang Por Dhammajayo failed to appear at the DSI office to acknowledge his charges authorities launched several failed raids of the temple to search for the head abbot and laid hundreds of additional charges on the temple.

So he has DVT

51 minutes ago, webfact said:

The temple was in full lock down for 23 days in 2017 on orders from the junta using Article 44. The NCPO copped plenty of criticism during the time over their handling of the case. On December 20, 2017, Thai authorities emerged from the temple, empty handed. Luang Por Dhammajayo had, somehow, alluded authorities despite his alleged illnesses.

Lots of face lost there

52 minutes ago, webfact said:

For now, the former Dhammakaya Temple abbot, Dhammachayo, remains elusive, probably overseas.

But DVT???

[dcnx]

52 minutes ago, webfact said:

little to do with real Buddhism.

I’d love to hear their take on “real” Buddhism. Maybe they could tell everyone where that’s actually practiced here.

[SanookTeufel]

Sounds to me like he did something wrong; and if he did no wrong and is innocent why not face the accusations head on?

The fact the Monks would fight with the military does make it seem a lot like a cult...

I don't know much about the temple though, I like some of their facebook posts that's about as far as I go with them.

I choose to support the local temples instead.

[Misterwhisper]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Many others consider the temple a cult and little to do with real Buddhism.

A bit like countless other temples across Thailand then, where primarily the Cult of Moolah is cultivated and ritualized.

 

But admittedly not quite to the same lofty heights than at Wat Phra Dhammakaya, judging from the obscenely fantasmic new structure they currently apparently are building, and which makes that "temple" ever more reminiscent of a space port.

 

 

 

[Lucius verus]

Therevada Buddhism seems to have alot in common with TV Evangelists in the US. Take as much money from the plebs as you can get away with and hide in the biggest palace you can build with a fleet of private jets for a quick getaway.

[leeneeds]

Something is seriously wrong if you can not follow the 11 odd billion money , trail

perhaps a lack of faith.

[Reigntax]

3 hours ago, dcnx said:

I’d love to hear their take on “real” Buddhism. Maybe they could tell everyone where that’s actually practiced here.

Donate a million baht to them and im sure then you'll know their take

[Sonhia]

He sould consider bringing himself plus the rest of the gang, all those high-so with.money, not forgettimg many other Thai that commit crimes, especially against foreigners. 

 

The kettle calling the pot black.

[Cadbury]

As I recall a team of Thai police went to Germany to haul him back but he claimed asylum and the RTP junketeers were told to p!ss off and go back home.

The RTP returned with their tails between their legs with huge loss of face. 

[hgma]

what i can remember was the disgusting deception of classified and respected doctors who came up with horror stories , video's and certified documents of (a possible) imminent death if the monk moved an inch.....i am not in religion so i can't comment on his trade and spades, yet it seems that he (the monk) himself deceived his faith, his followers 'faith' and the medical entourages faith, yet nobody seemed to take responsibility for their utter nonsense! 

[legend49]

When they spin the chocolate wheel again looking for more fugitives will red Bull be included?

[holy cow cm]

Again it is the pot calling the kettle black.

[sammieuk1]

There's only room for one senior embezzler firm in this fair land and it ain't the monkey business ????

[Dcheech]

16 hours ago, SanookTeufel said:

Sounds to me like he did something wrong; and if he did no wrong and is innocent why not face the accusations head on?

The fact the Monks would fight with the military does make it seem a lot like a cult...

I don't know much about the temple though, I like some of their facebook posts that's about as far as I go with them.

I choose to support the local temples instead.

"I don't know much about the temple though"

 

Got a winner there. Not mentioned in the article is the suppoters of this sect, if you want to call it that, are mainly upcountry thais, who coincidentally support a certain political party.

 

Once you factor that in 

 

 

Edited August 6, 2019 by Dcheech

[mikebell]

18 hours ago, webfact said:

His supporters say he vows to face justice if and when when Thailand returns to civil rule.

That's a fairly safe promise to make.

[SanookTeufel]

13 hours ago, Cadbury said:

As I recall a team of Thai police went to Germany to haul him back but he claimed asylum and the RTP junketeers were told to p!ss off and go back home.

The RTP returned with their tails between their legs with huge loss of face. 

Can you link to the article where you read this?

I'd find it hard to believe the Germans would grant him asylum.

[RichardColeman]

Meh, don;t punish him, just relocate him and his followers to the deep south

[Cadbury]

7 minutes ago, SanookTeufel said:

Can you link to the article where you read this?

I'd find it hard to believe the Germans would grant him asylum.

Whether he eventually got asylum I don't know. All I know is that Germany told the Thai police to get out of Germany which they did empty handed.

The story says there were 14 seats booked on Thai Airways fro the return flight to Thailand. 13 of those for the police junketeers and one for the monk which remained empty. 

https://www.nationthailand.com/national/30347053

[mmushr00m]

One of my former bossed was a follower.

I remember him asking if anyone wanted to donate money, make merit, to make a gold Buddha statue at that wat.

I asked, why not donate the money or build something for the community?

...

...

Sometimes it's good to be a farang ????

[PETERTHEEATER]

On 8/5/2019 at 3:02 PM, Chang_paarp said:

I like this quote.

So he has DVT

Lots of face lost there

But DVT???

Yes, it's all that First Class air travel. Even the best seats can cause DVT......

[lvr181]

The PM had his chance to stop the monk getting away, but no, he procrastinated about using heavy military force to prise him out of his temple complex. Now he wants to be the 'good guy' and deal with this guy? The PM has been outsmarted and will not own up to it. Good luck, the PM will need it.

Edited August 6, 2019 by lvr181
Spelling correction

[khaowong1]

Do they even know where he is?  Someone said he's in Germany.  This farce with Wat Dhammakaya has been going on for years. 

[khaowong1]

9 hours ago, mmushr00m said:

One of my former bossed was a follower.

I remember him asking if anyone wanted to donate money, make merit, to make a gold Buddha statue at that wat.

I asked, why not donate the money or build something for the community?

...

...

Sometimes it's good to be a farang ????

I spent 7 years as a monk at a temple in Lopburi.  I could never understand why they waste all their money on gold statues when there are 1000's of poor people who could use it. Or build schools or medical clinics.  SMDH. 

[Classic Ray]

11 hours ago, khaowong1 said:

I spent 7 years as a monk at a temple in Lopburi.  I could never understand why they waste all their money on gold statues when there are 1000's of poor people who could use it. Or build schools or medical clinics.  SMDH. 

It’s the same as the Middle East. The people are fascinated by glittery things. In Dubai all the high end watches are encrusted with sparkly stones, all the gold shop flourish there and here. Reminds me of the stories of Native Americans and South Sea Islanders trading for a few beads. 

 

All someone needs to do now is produce a skin whitening cream with gold flecks in it in a crystal jar and they will make a fortune.

[brianthainess]

11 hours ago, khaowong1 said:

Do they even know where he is?  Someone said he's in Germany.  This farce with Wat Dhammakaya has been going on for years. 

I would suspect he is around one of the Temples in Bulgaria where has performed rites before in 2011 and 2015.  ????