Abbot of Wat Saket removed from Sangha over budget irregularities

[webfact]

Abbot of Wat Saket removed from Sangha over budget irregularities
The Nation



BANGKOK: -- THE ACTING Supreme Patriarch yesterday issued an order to remove the abbot of Wat Saket (Temple of the Golden Mount) as a member of the Sangha Supreme Council after allegations of corruption, a senior government official said.

Phanom Sonsill, director of the National Office of Buddhism, said the abbot Phra Phrom Sutee was removed from the council after the Office of the Auditor-General detected irregularities in the spending of the Bt67-million budget earmarked for the royally sponsored cremation of his predecessor. The late Wat Saket abbot Somdej Phra Buddhacharn was cremated last March 9.

Acting Supreme Patriarch Somdej Phra Maha Ratchamangkhalacharn's order stated that Phra Phrom Sutee's removal from the council retroactively took effect on Wednesday. The order was countersigned by Prime Minister's Office Minister Suwanphan Tanyuvardhana.

The abbot, who is also known as Chao Khun Sanoh, was appointed to the Sangha Supreme Council on September 22 last year.

According to Phanom, the Office of the Auditor-General had sent three letters to alert the acting Supreme Patriarch of the alleged irregularities, and the chief monk had decided to remove the abbot to protect the council's image and minimise public suspicion.

"On January 8, the Office of the Auditor-General submitted its third report to the acting Supreme Patriarch directly. It was a confidential report addressed to him directly," Phanom said. "I was at the office when the officials arrived, but had to leave the room because it was confidential. The removal of Phra Phrom Sutee mainly had to do with the spending of the Bt67-million cremation funds."

Phanom said another senior monk would be nominated to fill the abbot's place in the monks-ruling body.

He said Phra Phrom Sutee would, however, continue holding his post as abbot of the temple, which is under royal patronage, and chief of Monastic Region 12.

Phanom said it was up to the abbot's direct superior, the monastic chief of Bangkok and Central Region, to decide whether the monk should continue holding the two posts.

Phra Phrom Sutee said yesterday he had been informed of the order and as a monk, had to respect the order of his superior. He added that he would take no action and remain in the monkhood, "because I have nowhere else to go".

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Abbot-of-Wat-Saket-removed-from-Sangha-over-budget-30252000.html


-- The Nation 2015-01-16

[colinneil]

Here we go again. Monks taking temple money for themselves.

!!Disgusting !!

[bangkokfrog]

The Office of the Auditor-General gives a "confidential" report about corruption to the acting Supreme Patriarch? Surely the report should have been given to the police as well. And as for the dear Abbot "having nowhere else to go", I imagine he will be joining another infamous monk overseas before we see the police involved.

[mca]

The Supreme Council first became supicious of financial irregularities when the previous abbot's cremation consisted of dumping him in a municipal skip, dousing him in a gallon of petrol and chucking in a lit match...

[casualbiker]

67 million baht for a cremation .. when so many are poor and struggling that takes the piss.. Buddhism gone wrong!

[thesetat2013]

Hehe I love the way they word this. The chief monk decided to remove the Abbot to protect the councils image and minimize public suspicion.

In other words. The chief monk decided to move the abbot before anyone figured out he was stealing and before he made the council look bad. That way he can keep his job and no one will investigate the irregularities anymore.

[JOC]

Thai "Bhuddism" would make Lord Bhudda rotate faster than a highspeed drill in his grave!!

67 million wasted on a cremation in a country where many fight to make ends meet!!

[Toknarok]

67 million baht for a cremation .. when so many are poor and struggling that takes the piss.. Buddhism gone wrong!

Ten days ago a very well known monk (Pra Phaet) died. He was said to be over 105 years old but nobody really knows for sure as no documents exist. Since his death literally hundreds of thousands of mourners have visited the temple in Ban Kruad Buriram where he lived. Yesterday was his funeral, he wasn't cremated but his body was placed in a glass topped coffin. Presumably he was embalmed. The coffin alone is said to have cost 200K baht. A huge mausoleum is under construction where he will eventually be laid to rest.

Yesterday afternoon there were so many at the temple you could hardly move, it was like a Glastonbury rock concert. I'll bet that overall tens of millions of baht were donated to this temple over the past week or so. I'm not suggesting for one minute that there was any impopriety on this occasion but with all that cash floating around it is easy to see how irregularities could occur.

[Briggsy]

This has nothing to do with financial irregularities, which may or may not have occurred. This monk is known to be sympathetic to politicians currently out of favour. This is a straightforward purge of the Sangha as has happened before in Thailand in politically unstable times.

[SOTIRIOS]

......never a word back about the jet-setter monk that fled in his private plane...to the tune of hundreds of millions of DOLLARS....

...he even has sex and fathered a child....with a 'child'......

...yet ....nothing......wonder why......

[klauskunkel]

self censored, (do not bash the monk, just feed him morning, noon and night)

Edited January 16, 2015 by klauskunkel

[Don Aleman]

How does Thailand hope to ever get on Page 1 of world rankings when both their law enforcement officials AND religious leaders are being arrested/detained

virtually daily. Who else does any nation have at the helm that controls behavior

but Law & Religion ?

[PREM-R]

......never a word back about the jet-setter monk that fled in his private plane...to the tune of hundreds of millions of DOLLARS....

...he even has sex and fathered a child....with a 'child'......

...yet ....nothing......wonder why......

There was a documentary film about this on Channel News Asia from Singapore just this week.

[catweazle]

Discover Thainess... part of it is perverting and exploiting Buddhism to the fullest.

I think Buddhism in Thailand can be descibed in one meager sentence: Monks (many of them ex convicts) do whatever dirty deeds can be done while hiding behind their robes and titles, while the common man goes to the temple merely to ask for lottery numbers and fortune telling...

Cleanups and crackdowns won't be of help - the change must come from the inside. I however fear that it is too late. Religions are rendered obsolete by human greed and superficiality.

Edited January 16, 2015 by catweazle

[Briggsy]

How does Thailand hope to ever get on Page 1 of world rankings when both their law enforcement officials AND religious leaders are being arrested/detained

virtually daily. Who else does any nation have at the helm that controls behavior

but Law & Religion ?

Your post assumes that Thailand's leaders wish it to be a country without corruption. Nothing could be further from the truth. What its leaders want is no threats to their power base. The Sangha Council, Thailand's Buddhist hierarchy, gets involved in politics now and then as large swathes of the population listen to sermons on the tv and the radio. This political involvement could be by saying things or preventing others saying things. Some monks are very popular. Imagine if a monk did not back the government's actions. It would bolster opposition to the government.

Other sectors to be neutered, muzzled and controlled are the press, academia, the civil service, the state enterprises, the unions, the agricultural co-operatives, the regional political groupings, the police, etc., etc.

That is why you are seeing removals of very senior people in each of these power structures. They cannot be trusted to tow the line. The corruption excuse is always handy as virtually all powerful people in every field in this country have access to a slush fund as a necessity. The system is designed to keep the hands of the penniless poor or even the not-very-well-off off the levers of power.

[worgeordie]

They need to set up inactive posts,like the have for the

police etc, no punishment just moved to another temple

Buddha forgive ,if any hi Abbot ,or police,politician and

influential person here ever has to face up to their

wrong doings,thats why it will never stop,if you do get

caught with your hand in the till,nothing happens,so

crime does pay and well in Thailand,unless your poor

then its off to the nick post haste.

regards Worgeordie

[Sviss Geez]

How does Thailand hope to ever get on Page 1 of world rankings when both their law enforcement officials AND religious leaders are being arrested/detained

virtually daily. Who else does any nation have at the helm that controls behavior

but Law & Religion ?

"Who else does any nation have at the helm that controls behavior but Law & Religion ?"

Every single nation on the planet is controlled by law and religion, isn't it? Eg UK, US, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia etc.

[jcisco]

Do they not have an accountant on staff that should also be under the spotlight. As for a secret report, what a joke, how is one to defend themselves against such things or judge the veracity of its claims.

Furthermore 67 million is just completely out of touch with the reality of the country and the world at large.

[kkerry]

......never a word back about the jet-setter monk that fled in his private plane...to the tune of hundreds of millions of DOLLARS....

...he even has sex and fathered a child....with a 'child'......

...yet ....nothing......wonder why......

There was a documentary film about this on Channel News Asia from Singapore just this week.

Worth watching, even if only to see the local monk at the end fleeing the Monk Investigation Team.

Edited January 16, 2015 by kkerry

[TheFishman1]

What the Fuss about Everbody knows This is Thailand

[trainman34014]

My Father-in-Laws Brother has been a Monk since aged 12. He came from a poor family... .he is now 84.

He is one of the richest men i have ever known in my 69 years.....go figure !

[khaowong1]

I know first hand that the abbot of Wat Sa Ket was a follower and devotee of the man in Dubai.. Seen it, heard it. So, I'm thinking this is a political ploy, the powers that be don't really care about the 67 million baht.

[Rhys]

_{could this be yet another honest mistake.. o p j}

[binjalin]

Buddhism here ain't what it was I do wish the Sangha would show leadership and kick out rogue monks (and I include Suthep and Issara in that as well as the 'flying monk' and all the rest)

[khaowong1]

binjalin, The Sangha only has it's power base in Thailand.. And I get the feeling, that if they started a clean sweep, so to speak, they would gut their monk base so bad, they could never recover. And look at the new head of the Sangha. A member of a, so called, Buddhist cult. The Sangha needs to sweep with a new broom from the top down.

[Suriya4]

Here we go again. Monks taking temple money for themselves.

!!Disgusting !!

But general will never take country money for themselves, as they love the country too much.