Bangkok Temple To Demolish Its Morgue : Abortion Horror

[webfact]

Temple to demolish its morgue

By The Nation on Sunday

Bangkok's Wat Phai Ngern will host a grand merit-making and cleansing ritual - and demolish its morgue - next Saturday, following the discovery of more than 2,000 human foetuses at the temple.

Suchart Phoome and Suthep Chabangbon - the two undertakers charged with concealing the foetuses to cover other crimes - were taken to the Southern Bangkok Criminal Court yesterday to be detained for a 12-day period.

Police objected to them being released on the grounds that the crime was serious. The two said their relatives would apply for bail while the case was in court - during which time they also wanted to be ordained as monks for redemption. The two men were released later yesterday on bail worth Bt100,000 each.

They claimed they dumped the foetuses out of necessity and apologised to society for their actions. They said condemnation should be directed at the mothers and the people who performed the abortions - not them.

Wat Phraya Krai police superintendent Colonel Methee Rakphan said those wishing to make merit for the foetuses could attend the ritual next Saturday, when the morgue will be demolished so nothing illegal can be hidden there.

At the temple, people sympathising with the young spirits, yesterday placed milk, baby clothes and toys at the morgue, where the monks on Friday had performed a prayer for the dead and shrouded it with holy thread.

Meanwhile, the mother of Lanchakorn Janthamanas, theformer nurse's assistant arrested as the undertakers' accomplice, yesterday denied Suchart's allegation that she - the mother - was involved in the crimes.

The mother, Sombat Sinothok, a former clinical assistant who now has a coconut business in Nakhon Pathom, said she knew Suchart from hiring him as a lion dancer and kept his telephone number. Countering the allegation that she let foetuses be buried in her backyard, she dared anyone to dig up the land - although she admitted to burying some 60 dog bodies from an animal clinic there.

She said she was proud of her daughter's acts, which helped solve social problems. She urged the prime minister to legalise abortion to stop clinics having to perform illegal operations.

In related news, Public Health Minister Jurin Laksanawisit told a meeting yesterday of 5,000 health volunteers in Surat Thani that the abortion issue must be solved as part of the criminal code, but did not elaborate.

He said the law allowed abortions only for rape victims who were less than three months pregnant and cases when a foetus had incomplete organs, or for women who faced a serious health threat from pregnancy.

He urged the volunteers to watch out for clinics performing illegal abortions and to promote sex education and safe sex among the public.

-- The Nation 2010-11-21

[asiawatcher]

What a stupid reaction !! Demolish the morgue? Then two low end workers simply doing what is necessary being handled as criminals. Why is it Thailand Authorities take the easiest way out? Any action being better than none ... Idiots!

[ChiangMaiFun]

All a result of not having a proper, clinically supervised and legal system - how sad for the Mothers to have to creep around getting abortions - shame on those who support it at the highest levels and how hypocritical!

[whybother]

What a stupid reaction !! Demolish the morgue? Then two low end workers simply doing what is necessary being handled as criminals. Why is it Thailand Authorities take the easiest way out? Any action being better than none ... Idiots!

"Doing what is necessary"? It's still breaking the law. Yes. The law may be wrong, but rather than ignoring it, people should be doing something to change it.

[jayjay0]

Well this may be a little tounge in cheek. But demolish it in order to build one that can do the job. One sentence in the article jumped out at me. It was "She said she was proud of her daughter's acts, which helped solve social problems." All the talk about what is rite what is wrong how to fix it really means nothing if they don't do some thing to solve the social problems.

[Beetlejuice]

What a stupid reaction !! Demolish the morgue? Then two low end workers simply doing what is necessary being handled as criminals. Why is it Thailand Authorities take the easiest way out? Any action being better than none ... Idiots!

"Doing what is necessary"? It's still breaking the law. Yes. The law may be wrong, but rather than ignoring it, people should be doing something to change it.

Right on.

People should not break the law because they do not agree with it. Laws or implemented for good reasons.

What comebacks do these mothers’s have if something goes wrong? Infection and operations performed by those who are unqualified to do the job and so on.

What happens if a woman dies during the process? Do they discretely hide the body in order to cover up the botched attempt at an abortion?

Some of these women are well to do and professionals who are willing to take the risks and use this behind the doors system to hide the fact that they have been screwing around from the public eye in order to save face and protect their careers.

Although I agree abortion is a good thing in most cases, unwanted pregnancies with low IQ women, this process must cease and desist and those involved be prosecuted by the full extent of the law.

[animatic]

They claimed they dumped the foetuses out of necessity

and apologised to society for their actions.

They said condemnation should be directed at the mothers

and the people who performed the abortions - not them.

Why apologize for your actions if you also don't think you should be condemned?

Yes, deflect the blame towards the poor women, who have as likely been trapped

by societal circumstances and lack of caring based on saving face and for appearances sake. Though I have less sympathy for the backroom abortionists.

Though certainly they provide a service the society is forcing on their young women.

This sad and sordid story really shines a mirror on the culture.

Edited November 21, 2010 by animatic

[LanxangBillybob]

"will host a grand merit-making and cleansing ritual"

KA-CHING!

[gemini81]

What a stupid reaction !! Demolish the morgue? Then two low end workers simply doing what is necessary being handled as criminals. Why is it Thailand Authorities take the easiest way out? Any action being better than none ... Idiots!

thats your idea of doing what is necessary? Then necessary knows no boundaries

[trogers]

Temple to demolish its morgue? I think the temple should be demolish, and not just the morgue. My feeling is that Buddha will not be making his presence in that temple any time soon.