Thailand's Luangta Maha Bua 12 Ton Gold Donation To Be Verified By Guinness Book As Largest Ever

[webfact]

Guinness Book verifying Luangta Maha Bua as biggest gold donor

BANGKOK, 25 February 2011 (NNT) – Thailand’s late Luangta Maha Bua may enter the Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest donor of gold bullion to the government sector if the book’s adjudicators approve it in three months’ time.

According to former Bank of Thailand Governor Mr. Thanom Butruang, he and current BoT officials have sent an application asking the legendary publisher to recognize the late abbot of Pa Ban Tad monastery as the individual who had donated the largest amount of gold bars to a government.

The abbot had raised 12 tonnes of gold bars in public donation under his fund-raising scheme “Phapa Chuay Chart” (Buddhist robes helping the nation). Luangta Maha Bua had been the abbot of Pa Ban Tad Monastery located in Ban Tad district, Udon Thani province before he passed away last month.

The donated gold bars contain 99.99% standard purity in conformity with the international standard, and each weighs 12.5 kilogram. Mr. Thanom said the Guinness World Record Office has already received Thailand’s application and is now in the process of verifying all the evidences. The adjudication is expected to take 3 months. If approved, the late abbot will receive a certificate of the achievement as proof of the record breaker.

-- NNT 2011-02-25

[pedro01]

Anyone know when this happened?

[edwinchester]

The Inca's paid a ransom(donation?) of 750 tons of gold to the Spanish to secure the release of their god-king Atahualpa in the 16th century. Wonder if they got a 'certificate of the achievement' for that.

The dastardly Spanish executed him anyway and ran off with the gold.

[Johpa]

This amount pales in comparison to the Kingdom's institutional gold that is currently being sold elsewhere.

[JetsetBkk]

Why would a Buddhist abbot give so much to a government, let alone a Thai government?

Couldn't he think of a more deserving or trustworthy institution to give it to?

I presume there is something in writing saying that he is actually giving this or bequeathing this to the government? I mean, there wouldn't be any shenanigans going on here, would there?

[TAWP]

Why would a Buddhist abbot give so much to a government, let alone a Thai government?

Couldn't he think of a more deserving or trustworthy institution to give it to?

I presume there is something in writing saying that he is actually giving this or bequeathing this to the government? I mean, there wouldn't be any shenanigans going on here, would there?

Well, I don't understand why anyone would voluntarily give an government anything, especially since in general they are the least efficient when it comes to using founds...

[ManOnTheRoad]

They have 12 tons of gold but how come they cant pay for a Fast Track adjudication e.g only GBP 300

[tw25rw]

Why did he accumulate this gold instead of using it for charitable purposes? That must have taken years to get together.

[Buchholz]

Anyone know when this happened?

The revered Abbot turned over the 12 tons of gold bullion to a very excited Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on April 11, 2002.

I'm sure the honest "too-rich-to-be-corrupt" Prime Minister of the time made good use of it.

Apparently, the fugitive ex-PM was so excited at the time, he salivated and drooled all down the front of his shirt while contemplating how he was going to best utilize the donation to the citizens of Thailand.

.

Edited February 25, 2011 by Buchholz

[flying]

Very Odd........The gold is said to have been raised in public donations??

Yet the pic shows 12.5 Kilogram/27.5 pound bars & 99.99% purity at that?

His congregation must be made up of wealthy foreigners.

I guess it is possible he gathered even more than 12 tonnes of 96.5%

Thai gold & later converted it to these 440 ounce bars?

Odd story

[Time Traveller]

Why did he accumulate this gold instead of using it for charitable purposes? That must have taken years to get together.

Basically the idea was to help the country. When the Bank of Thailand virtually used up all of the foreign reserves to keep the baht pegged to the dollar in 1996 forcing the baht to float. The effect was a rapid depreciation in the currency and he proposed for people to donate gold as a way to help the country. Of course gold was worth a lot less then about 6000 baht from memory (around $300 per oz). After his recent death it was donated to the country foreign exchange reserves with a ammendment in one of the laws relating to FX and bullion reserves that this gold is not be used. A noble act of giving although quite strange that these reserves can't be used, what's the point in having them then?

[flying]

A noble act of giving although quite strange that these reserves can't be used, what's the point in having them then?

The USA 8133 tonnes *supposedly* in Fort Knox is not used either

A gold reserve is the gold held by a central bank or nation intended as a store of value and as a guarantee to redeem promises to pay depositors, note holders (e.g., paper money), or trading peers, or to secure a currency.(wiki definition)

Although it is a form of guarantee.... note it is not used to actually pay debts.

Nixon closed that window in the US back in the 1971 canceling the ability to swap dollars for gold when redeeming international debts..ending The Bretton Woods system..Also basically canceling the promise that USD was good as gold

[webfact]

BOT gives late monk 'world record' nomination

By The Nation

The "Guinness Book of World Records" has accepted the Bank of Thailand's application to nominate the late Buddhist monk Luangta Maha Bua as being the world's biggest donor of gold bars and ornaments to state coffers, a senior retired BOT official said yesterday.

The monk, who had been granted the full ecclesiastical title of Phra Thamma Wisutthi Monkghol, called on the public to make donations to boost Thailand's economy. His campaign saw around 12 tonnes of gold donated, which the revered monk then handed over to the central bank, Thanom Bunrueng said, adding that the "Guinness Book of World Records" would reply in the next three months after verifying the claims.

Thanom said the bank had nominated the late monk to honour him and show its gratitude. "In the next 100 years, no one knows whether anyone could succeed in getting as much donations as he did," he added.

-- The Nation 2011-02-26

[Colabamumbai]

Gross mishandling of funds that could have been used to improve the life of every Thai.

[REM]

Gross mishandling of funds that could have been used to improve the life of every Thai.

Definitely in agreement with you there. With the rate of corruption running through the government, I wonder if 100% of the value of that gold went to the government or into someones pocket (since they stipulate that it can't be used, I'm pretty sure they used it as collateral and borrowed against it's value).

[Bagwan]

I wonder how many Honda Waves that little pile could buy.

BTW Who is the thuggy looking gent standing behind Public Enemy No. 1?

[Spee]

Nixon closed that window in the US back in the 1971 canceling the ability to swap dollars for gold when redeeming international debts..ending The Bretton Woods system..Also basically canceling the promise that USD was good as gold

Going OT here, but since you brought it up .... Roosevelt took the US off the gold standard 35+ years before Nixon ended US participation in the Bretton Woods system. Details here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_6102

FDR had a very devious mindset and strived to consolidate the power of the central government, and more specifically, the executive branch. This order was a cold, calculated decision to make it harder for American citizens to own precious metals, specifically gold and silver, and for government to consolidate ownership and therefore consolidate power that comes with ownership. It was a bad move then, because it was a central cause of the great depression and remains a bad move to this very day.

Private gold ownership plays an extremely important part in everyday Thai life. It is one of the things that I have always liked about the country and believe to this day that is very good for the country. As long as Thai citizens have the ability to buy and sell gold in private transactions, they will always have protection against government mismangement of the national currency. I hope this will never change.

Edited February 26, 2011 by Spee

[flying]

Nixon closed that window in the US back in the 1971 canceling the ability to swap dollars for gold when redeeming international debts..ending The Bretton Woods system..Also basically canceling the promise that USD was good as gold

Going OT here, but since you brought it up .... Roosevelt took the US off the gold standard 35+ years before Nixon ended US participation in the Bretton Woods system.

Private gold ownership plays an extremely important part in everyday Thai life. It is one of the things that I have always liked about the country and believe to this day that is very good for the country. As long as Thai citizens have the ability to buy and sell gold in private transactions, they will always have protection against government mismangement of the national currency. I hope this will never change.

Yes it is true that Roosevelt took away the right for the US citizens to hold gold. That was the first default but again....on US citizens. At the time gold was currency/coinage

Nixon was the 2nd default on the rest of the world & their ability to settle international debts in requesting gold for dollars

Like you I prefer free gold as it is now in Thailand & worldwide & hopefully it will stay this way...floating free to seek its own value in relation to currencies & not have its price fixed as it once was.

[animatic]

Anyone know when this happened?

The revered Abbot turned over the 12 tons of gold bullion to a very excited Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on April 11, 2002.

I'm sure the honest "too-rich-to-be-corrupt" Prime Minister of the time made good use of it.

Apparently, the fugitive ex-PM was so excited at the time, he salivated and drooled all down the front of his shirt while contemplating how he was going to best utilize the donation to the citizens of Thailand.

.

You have been well and truly noted as a plant. Seen your phot account.

Taotally anti thaksin photos

Or he just can't stand Thaksin and doesn't want him ever to return to power. I happen to know Buchholz is not a plant, not even a shrubbery of any sort. He's not even particularly Taoist either. And that is the truth today!

Edited February 26, 2011 by animatic

[teatree]

How very Buddhist of him accumulating all that gold. I'm sure Buddha would be very proud.

[metisdead]

Off topic bickering posts have been removed.

[JetsetBkk]

The revered Abbot turned over the 12 tons of gold bullion to a very excited Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on April 11, 2002.

I'm sure the honest "too-rich-to-be-corrupt" Prime Minister of the time made good use of it.

Apparently, the fugitive ex-PM was so excited at the time, he salivated and drooled all down the front of his shirt while contemplating how he was going to best utilize the donation to the citizens of Thailand.

.

You have been well and truly noted as a plant. Seen your phot account.

Taotally anti thaksin photos

No, he's not a plant, just hates Thaksin with a vengeance and has made it his life's work to remind everyone at every opportunity what a bad man he was, and still is.

So when he writes in italicised and bold letters you have to understand that this is to indicate that he is trying be funny. After all, no one from Sri Racha could possibly accept the idea that a revered monk would splash water over Thaksin in any form of blessing.

[jimbeam1]

OMG only in Thailand. It even bought Thaksin out in a sweat.

jb1

[Johpa]

I really doubt this monk happened to collect 12 tons of gold in small donations over the decades and then miraculously had the gold melted into nice neat gold bars. More likely someone, or some group, felt a bit guilty, or were made to feel a bit guilty, about the large amount of gold amassed over a very long period of time that is now being sold and shipped out of the Kingdom, and decided to tithe themselves a percentage to give back to the Nation.

[egg]

my wife and l went to his temple at Udon last weekend ,, it is easy to believe how he accumulated so much gold ,,, the crowds of people , even early in the morning, were staggering , with my lady telling what province every car came from(as if l really wanted to know),,, they came from everywhere,,,,, my wife gave me a full run down of the guys achievements and how the gold was to be given to the Thai government under the condition that it be used for the betterment of lower class Thais,,,,, l want to know ,, do they really believe this will happen ? l know one that believes that , but surely all Thais are not as naive as her ,,, are they ??????????????????????????????? ,, l shouldn't ask ,, l know the answer

[Buchholz]

The revered Abbot turned over the 12 tons of gold bullion to a very excited Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on April 11, 2002.

I'm sure the honest "too-rich-to-be-corrupt" Prime Minister of the time made good use of it.

Apparently, the fugitive ex-PM was so excited at the time, he salivated and drooled all down the front of his shirt while contemplating how he was going to best utilize the donation to the citizens of Thailand.

You have been well and truly noted as a plant. Seen your phot account.

Taotally anti thaksin photos

No, he's not a plant, just hates Thaksin with a vengeance and has made it his life's work to remind everyone at every opportunity what a bad man he was, and still is.

So when he writes in italicised and bold letters you have to understand that this is to indicate that he is trying be funny. After all, no one from Sri Racha could possibly accept the idea that a revered monk would splash water over Thaksin in any form of blessing.

Nor could someone from Bangkok who doesn't think that Thaksin has ever done anything detrimental in any manner think that Thaksin could actually be salivating and that whatever blessed water the Abbot might be applying to the gold and ending up on the shirt is just mixing with Thaksin's droolings to form large splotches.

[JetsetBkk]

Nor could someone from Bangkok who doesn't think that Thaksin has ever done anything detrimental in any manner

Oh, but I do!

think that Thaksin could actually be salivating

I'm sure he was. I would be.

and that whatever blessed water the Abbot might be applying to the gold and ending up on the shirt is just mixing with Thaksin's droolings to form large splotches.

I'm sure Thaksin was swallowing quite frequently.

Let's agree on one thing - Thaksin has aged a lot in the last 9 years.

[Buchholz]

Let's agree on one thing - Thaksin has aged a lot in the last 9 years.

That'll get a "high five" of agreement

[hyperdimension]

Anyone know when this happened?

The revered Abbot turned over the 12 tons of gold bullion to a very excited Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on April 11, 2002.

That was when Thaksin wasn't seen to be as corrupt as he is now, so the monk must have thought that he truly was being charitable at that time. Was he senile? Would it have been better to convert the gold to cash and then donate the cash to a number of charities who are working to help disadvantaged people?

What did Thaksin do with the donation? It wasn't a personal donation to Thaksin himself, so I think the picture is showing Thaksin thinking "I wish it was mine".

Is it all still intact (or are there some missing bars?), who exactly owns it now, and what will it actually be used for?

[tim armstrong]

A point that has been overlooked- the Thai version of Buddhism does not have as one of its main principles that 'buddhism' is about care for the community.While many temples do that, particularly forest monks, most monks stay in temple surrounds, and only venture out to weddings, funerals, and blessings. Thai Buddhism does however, strongly believe in 'making merit' as in giving alms, to the temple. So large sums of money are regularly given by Thais to ensure that more temples are built and maintained, and at the same time earn merit for themselves in the next life.

Which is why you see so many beautiful temple buildings surrounded by plastic bags, stray dogs, and poverty. It wouldn't surprise me at all to hear that a chunk of this money was going to restore or build some new monument or Wat dedicated to someone. Maybe to Thaksin? that would cause a stir.

Regards.