Dhammakaya followers are ready to return 400 million baht to Klongchan Credit Union if…

[webfact]

Dhammakaya followers are ready to return 400 million baht to Klongchan Credit Union if…



BANGKOK: -- Followers of Wat Dhammakaya are willing to return the 400 million baht in donation given to the temple if the Department of Special Investigation can verify that the money was misappropriated from Klongchan Credit Union Cooperatives by its former management and given to the temple.

Mr Ong-art Thamnita, spokesman of the followers, made the above statement in response to the DSI’s claim of the recent finding of a copy of 400 million baht cheque given to the temple and the suspicion that the money might be stolen from Klongchan Credit Union Cooperatives by its former executives.

He said that the followers would raise fund among themselves and supporters of the temple to compensate the Klongchan Credit Union Cooperatives – a practice that they had done before.

The spokesman then accused the DSI of double-standard practicing for its ferocious pursuit of actions against Phra Dhammachayo while doing nothing with Phra Buddha Isara, the abbot of Wat Or Noi, who joined the People’s Democratic Reform Committee protests against the former Yingluck government.

Ong-art further said that the temple would welcome the media into the temple to find out with their own eyes whether the temple stored arms as alleged or not.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/169721-2/


-- Thai PBS 2016-06-23

[The stuttering parrot]

Well he's got one thing right about Issara but as stated before both monks should be disrobed and arrested on various charges.

As for the 400 million deflection story it's not only the tip of the iceberg it just shows you how much is at stake and the greed behind it that drives these people on to protect the flying saucer money spinner. Under the guise of the Buddhist faith.

[Bluespunk]

Stop making conditions and conducting your defence through the media.

Give up the monk and let the law take it's course.

[Somtamnication]

They have to raise the amount? What happened to the "amount" originally received?

[HiSoLowSoNoSo]

Must be a first in Thailand, giving money back!

[colinneil]

What a farce we will give back 400 million if -if.

No conditions give it back NOW.

Greed is a very dangerous thing starts small, gets bigger bigger.

They are holding illegally obtained monies, and are then trying to set conditions.

Give up the greedy thieving monk, and let the law take its course.

[Bluespunk]

Must be a first in Thailand, giving money back!

Standard practice to do so when caught and want to avoid gaol.

Corruption is never punished, just marked down as a failed effort and a learning experience to ensure success in the future.

[Alive]

Have other organizations accept money from the corrupt banker? If so, are they being investigated? I know everyone hates a corrupt monk but Thailand is loaded with them. Are there other cases of monks or temples returning money especially so quickly? I'm sure the followers of this temple ultimately want to do the right thing. Not sure about its leader but those who follower really aren't bad people as some are trying to paint them to be. Many actually joined the temple because they could see the investments at the temple. They left other temples not for the poverty but for the fact that they couldn't see where their donations were going. Wat Dhammakaya is massive. You cannot claim corruption so easily in the area of how they use their funds. Every events takes millions of baht.

I'm the first to question Buddhism and Wat Dhammakaya but it certainly seems there a lot of hypocrisy being spouted. Westerners all want monks to be in poverty as that's what we learned but pretty much all Thai monks everywhere in the nation have percentage-wise the same in their accounts as the top ranking monks at this temple. These folks have hundreds of thousands or is it millions of followers. If you remember that story about the Mukdahan abbot who had his ATM card stolen by a fake monk a month ago, then you can see the example in this average abbot's account. How much money has been poured into the Bangkok temples for a century. Where does all this money go?

I'm all for crush the corrupt but I just see hypocrisy here in the rush to crush this temple. Is Wat Dhammakaya a cult? Yes. Should it change it's ways? Yes, in my view. Is it more corrupt than other temples? I have to wonder.

http://news.thaivisa.com/thailand/fake-monk-arrested-with-abbots-atm-card-as-holy-man-finds-a-hole-in-his-account/140748/

[smedly]

so now the suspected criminals are dictatiing the terms lol

[smedly]

Must be a first in Thailand, giving money back!

Standard practice to do so when caught and want to avoid gaol.

Corruption is never punished, just marked down as a failed effort and a learning experience to ensure success in the future.

not only that but how did these so called followers end up with all this money in the first place, talk about rotten to the core, this country is really lost, and people here harp on about a return to democracy, more like a return to a massive sespit of corruption and criminality, no wonder those that are involved are trying so hard to go back to how it was, they don't want change because it would cut off the money flow, law order and justice ? or at least some sort of attempt at it - not a chance

[dcsw53]

The head monk has no concern about what this, and other episodes like this, do to the image of the Buddhist faith. Shame on him.

[Emster23]

I guess this is what happens when people mistake following monk for following Buddha's teachings.

Edited June 23, 2016 by Emster23

[klauskunkel]

He said that the followers would raise fund among themselves and supporters of the temple to compensate the Klongchan Credit Union Cooperatives – a practice that they had done before.

400 mio baht... let's intensify membership drive, we need more idiots.

[scorecard]

Have other organizations accept money from the corrupt banker? If so, are they being investigated? I know everyone hates a corrupt monk but Thailand is loaded with them. Are there other cases of monks or temples returning money especially so quickly? I'm sure the followers of this temple ultimately want to do the right thing. Not sure about its leader but those who follower really aren't bad people as some are trying to paint them to be. Many actually joined the temple because they could see the investments at the temple. They left other temples not for the poverty but for the fact that they couldn't see where their donations were going. Wat Dhammakaya is massive. You cannot claim corruption so easily in the area of how they use their funds. Every events takes millions of baht.

I'm the first to question Buddhism and Wat Dhammakaya but it certainly seems there a lot of hypocrisy being spouted. Westerners all want monks to be in poverty as that's what we learned but pretty much all Thai monks everywhere in the nation have percentage-wise the same in their accounts as the top ranking monks at this temple. These folks have hundreds of thousands or is it millions of followers. If you remember that story about the Mukdahan abbot who had his ATM card stolen by a fake monk a month ago, then you can see the example in this average abbot's account. How much money has been poured into the Bangkok temples for a century. Where does all this money go?

I'm all for crush the corrupt but I just see hypocrisy here in the rush to crush this temple. Is Wat Dhammakaya a cult? Yes. Should it change it's ways? Yes, in my view. Is it more corrupt than other temples? I have to wonder.

http://news.thaivisa.com/thailand/fake-monk-arrested-with-abbots-atm-card-as-holy-man-finds-a-hole-in-his-account/140748/

Well the process has to start somewhere...

[timber]

I think Wat's should be audited in Thailand as they often lost track of their purpose.

[jippytum]

Why a temple would want 400 million baht is beyond me . Many temple fiances reveal deposits of millions and the Sanga council that is the governing body rarely make a comment or takes any action .What do they do with the cash ?????

[Faranginthai]

When will Dhammakaya followers accept that 'returning 400 million' does not absolve the accused's responsibility for the crime, but, may be considered in mitigation of the penalty [if found guilty in a court of law]

[mike324]

wait, why do followers have to raise the money from other followers again? There are millions in the monks personal account, not to mention the temples own.....

[halloween]

I think Wat's should be audited in Thailand as they often lost track of their purpose.

Not if you accept that their purpose is to separate mugs from their money. These boys could teach the catholics a scam or two.

[luckyman]

Have other organizations accept money from the corrupt banker? If so, are they being investigated? I know everyone hates a corrupt monk but Thailand is loaded with them. Are there other cases of monks or temples returning money especially so quickly? I'm sure the followers of this temple ultimately want to do the right thing. Not sure about its leader but those who follower really aren't bad people as some are trying to paint them to be. Many actually joined the temple because they could see the investments at the temple. They left other temples not for the poverty but for the fact that they couldn't see where their donations were going. Wat Dhammakaya is massive. You cannot claim corruption so easily in the area of how they use their funds. Every events takes millions of baht.

I'm the first to question Buddhism and Wat Dhammakaya but it certainly seems there a lot of hypocrisy being spouted. Westerners all want monks to be in poverty as that's what we learned but pretty much all Thai monks everywhere in the nation have percentage-wise the same in their accounts as the top ranking monks at this temple. These folks have hundreds of thousands or is it millions of followers. If you remember that story about the Mukdahan abbot who had his ATM card stolen by a fake monk a month ago, then you can see the example in this average abbot's account. How much money has been poured into the Bangkok temples for a century. Where does all this money go?

I'm all for crush the corrupt but I just see hypocrisy here in the rush to crush this temple. Is Wat Dhammakaya a cult? Yes. Should it change it's ways? Yes, in my view. Is it more corrupt than other temples? I have to wonder.

http://news.thaivisa.com/thailand/fake-monk-arrested-with-abbots-atm-card-as-holy-man-finds-a-hole-in-his-account/140748/

Spot on. Nice 1 thnx 4 sharin'!

[nausea]

A compensation culture. Pretty much like Anglo-Saxon England. People forget Thailand is very much in catch-up mode. It's made great strides in a century or two. You can't compare Thailand to say the UK, where we've had revolutions and a lot of blood shed to arrive where we are.

[CantSpell]

He didn't say he will give them back...

What he said actually sounds more like: "we can con our followers for another 400 M whenever is necessary " and then we will give it to you

[lungmi]

Wonderful, they confesse that the Dhammaka.... sect is a criminal cheating the Budhhist teaching money extorting mafia.

[DTRACKER300]

His brain washed them magically and once again another fish slips back into the tank

[Alive]

Found something interesting...A response by Wat Dhammakaya followers to a foreign correspondence club meeting that was held on Buddhism.

Statement of Dhammakaya Followers to Foreign Correspondents

Greetings members of the foreign press,

Dhammakaya would like to start off by making several points about the ongoing case against the abbot, Phrathepyanmahamuni.

First off, it should be known that the case involves embezzled money of about 12 billion baht that was given to a variety of organizations, charities, and temples by the former chairman of Klongchan Credit Union Cooperative. Less than 10% of the illicit funds were given to Wat Phra Dhammakaya in the form of donations. Despite this fact, the media and DSI has only been focusing on Dhammakaya. Furthermore, there is no way the abbot could know about the tainted donations as he received them in the open public in front of a crowd of donors. If DSI can charge the abbot for this they can charge any non-profit for receiving stolen goods. It should also be known Dhammakaya followers raised the equivalent of the illicit donations to return to the credit union once it was found out the money was linked to an embezzlement scheme, the only recipient of the illicit cheques to do so. The credit union then dropped the charges.

It should also be known that most of the members of the victim credit union do not support the case against Dhammakaya and most of the chief proponents of the case are not even affiliated with the victim credit union, they are simply opponents of Dhammakaya.

We would also like to clarify that the arrest warrant for Venerable Dhammajayo is grounded on the abbot not appearing for a summons to hear charges, however Dhammakaya sent representatives to request the hearing simply take place at the temple medical ward to the abbot’s doctor verified illnesses. The Thai Deputy Prosecutor even agrees there is no reason DSI cannot accommodate this reasonable request. It should also be known that past summonses issued by DSI were legally deferred.

As for the statements made about Dhammakaya on the Foreign Correspondents Club Panel, the Devotees of Wat Phra Dhammakaya would like to make these points, as the panel seems to have been set up largely just to attack Dhammakaya:

First off, it should be made known that two of the speakers, Mano Laohavanich and Sulak Sivaraksa, are vocal anti-Dhammakaya critics. Laohavanich has made numerous defamatory accusations against the temple without any proof or evidence, not just at the panel, but many times in the past. He has even made ridiculous claims about Dhammakaya that were proven false. We implore the foreign press to not take Dr. Mano’s remarks about Dhammakaya as credible.

This is an actual slide from Dr. Mano Laohavanich's Anti-Dhammakaya presentation at the Foreign Correspondents Club Thailand Panel.

In the panel, Mano Laohavanich makes numerous claims against Dhammakaya, many of them crazy conspiracy theories and none of them backed by any evidence. He claims our abbot looks young due to cosmetic surgery, this is false. Our abbot does look young for his age but this is a benefit from meditation. It should be known that monks in general look younger than their age and there is scientific support meditation helps slow aging on the body. A good example of another famous monk who looks young is Zen Master Thich Naht Hahn. He is almost 90 years old and looks reasonably young for his age. Our temple’s founder, Master Nun Chand Khonnokyoong, who passed away in the year 2000 at the age of 91, also looked quite young for her age. You are free to look into scientific studies of meditation or to meditate extensively yourself to confirm this effect meditation has on the body.

Mano also claims that the abbot lives a lavish lifestyle, this is a lie. The abbot’s living quarters is 100% in accordance with the Buddha’s guidelines, additional medical facilities he has are for his doctor verified illnesses. We are willing to send photos if you actually believe Dr. Mano for some reason.

Mano claims he saw documents that the abbot had invested in arms and has numerous business enterprises overseas. We assure Mano made this up and challenge Mano to indicate which businesses we invested in exactly and implore the press to investigate. We have never invested in arms, businesses or anything. Our expenditures are very transparent, as investigated recently by the Anti-Money Laundering Office, and we invite the press to look for evidence of these absurd claims as we are confident none will be found.

Mano again makes a claim that we are tied to former PM Thaksin and the Red Shirts. To be clear, we do not care about the politics. It should also be known that Dhammakaya supporter Mr. Boonchai of DTAC was an opponent of Thaksin and an open Yellow Shirt. All are welcome at Dhammakaya regardless of political views.

To clarify, we are confident the majority of correspondents were sensible enough not to listen to Dr. Mano’s absurd accusations anyways. The claims are untrue and have no evidence and we would prefer not to have to respond to every baseless accusation Mano Laohavanich makes against us, but we responded to several anyways this time just in case.

We would also like to point out that Dhammakaya does not promote or advocate greed, we believe in eliminating greed from our minds through generosity. Our events frequently state, “May the merit that we collect, help us eliminate, the defilement (including greed), from our minds”

We implore the members of the press to adhere to principles of ethical journalism in their reporting of this case. The key to reporting the most accurate story is getting both sides of the case in order to create a more comprehensive report. We make an appeal to journalists to bring up these points mentioned about the case and our responses to the statements made in the Foreign Correspondents Club Thailand panel in their reporting of Dhammakaya. We also invite all foreign correspondents to come to Dhammakaya to ask any questions they may have about the ongoing case or Dhammakaya in general. We have plenty of English speakers who are more than willing to answer any inquiries. If you are too busy to meet at Wat Phra Dhammakaya, we invite you to send us an email at [email protected] for any quick inquiries you may have. A quick 5 minute email may make a huge difference in the comprehension in your reporting.

http://www.dhammakayauncovered.com/letters-to-the-editor/2016/6/22/statement-of-dhammakaya-followers-to-foreign-correspondents

[halloween]

Found something interesting...A response by Wat Dhammakaya followers to a foreign correspondence club meeting that was held on Buddhism.

Statement of Dhammakaya Followers to Foreign Correspondents

Greetings members of the foreign press,

Dhammakaya would like to start off by making several points about the ongoing case against the abbot, Phrathepyanmahamuni.

First off, it should be known that the case involves embezzled money of about 12 billion baht that was given to a variety of organizations, charities, and temples by the former chairman of Klongchan Credit Union Cooperative. Less than 10% of the illicit funds were given to Wat Phra Dhammakaya in the form of donations. Despite this fact, the media and DSI has only been focusing on Dhammakaya. Furthermore, there is no way the abbot could know about the tainted donations as he received them in the open public in front of a crowd of donors. If DSI can charge the abbot for this they can charge any non-profit for receiving stolen goods. It should also be known Dhammakaya followers raised the equivalent of the illicit donations to return to the credit union once it was found out the money was linked to an embezzlement scheme, the only recipient of the illicit cheques to do so. The credit union then dropped the charges.

It should also be known that most of the members of the victim credit union do not support the case against Dhammakaya and most of the chief proponents of the case are not even affiliated with the victim credit union, they are simply opponents of Dhammakaya.

We would also like to clarify that the arrest warrant for Venerable Dhammajayo is grounded on the abbot not appearing for a summons to hear charges, however Dhammakaya sent representatives to request the hearing simply take place at the temple medical ward to the abbot’s doctor verified illnesses. The Thai Deputy Prosecutor even agrees there is no reason DSI cannot accommodate this reasonable request. It should also be known that past summonses issued by DSI were legally deferred.

As for the statements made about Dhammakaya on the Foreign Correspondents Club Panel, the Devotees of Wat Phra Dhammakaya would like to make these points, as the panel seems to have been set up largely just to attack Dhammakaya:

First off, it should be made known that two of the speakers, Mano Laohavanich and Sulak Sivaraksa, are vocal anti-Dhammakaya critics. Laohavanich has made numerous defamatory accusations against the temple without any proof or evidence, not just at the panel, but many times in the past. He has even made ridiculous claims about Dhammakaya that were proven false. We implore the foreign press to not take Dr. Mano’s remarks about Dhammakaya as credible.

This is an actual slide from Dr. Mano Laohavanich's Anti-Dhammakaya presentation at the Foreign Correspondents Club Thailand Panel.

In the panel, Mano Laohavanich makes numerous claims against Dhammakaya, many of them crazy conspiracy theories and none of them backed by any evidence. He claims our abbot looks young due to cosmetic surgery, this is false. Our abbot does look young for his age but this is a benefit from meditation. It should be known that monks in general look younger than their age and there is scientific support meditation helps slow aging on the body. A good example of another famous monk who looks young is Zen Master Thich Naht Hahn. He is almost 90 years old and looks reasonably young for his age. Our temple’s founder, Master Nun Chand Khonnokyoong, who passed away in the year 2000 at the age of 91, also looked quite young for her age. You are free to look into scientific studies of meditation or to meditate extensively yourself to confirm this effect meditation has on the body.

Mano also claims that the abbot lives a lavish lifestyle, this is a lie. The abbot’s living quarters is 100% in accordance with the Buddha’s guidelines, additional medical facilities he has are for his doctor verified illnesses. We are willing to send photos if you actually believe Dr. Mano for some reason.

Mano claims he saw documents that the abbot had invested in arms and has numerous business enterprises overseas. We assure Mano made this up and challenge Mano to indicate which businesses we invested in exactly and implore the press to investigate. We have never invested in arms, businesses or anything. Our expenditures are very transparent, as investigated recently by the Anti-Money Laundering Office, and we invite the press to look for evidence of these absurd claims as we are confident none will be found.

Mano again makes a claim that we are tied to former PM Thaksin and the Red Shirts. To be clear, we do not care about the politics. It should also be known that Dhammakaya supporter Mr. Boonchai of DTAC was an opponent of Thaksin and an open Yellow Shirt. All are welcome at Dhammakaya regardless of political views.

To clarify, we are confident the majority of correspondents were sensible enough not to listen to Dr. Mano’s absurd accusations anyways. The claims are untrue and have no evidence and we would prefer not to have to respond to every baseless accusation Mano Laohavanich makes against us, but we responded to several anyways this time just in case.

We would also like to point out that Dhammakaya does not promote or advocate greed, we believe in eliminating greed from our minds through generosity. Our events frequently state, “May the merit that we collect, help us eliminate, the defilement (including greed), from our minds”

We implore the members of the press to adhere to principles of ethical journalism in their reporting of this case. The key to reporting the most accurate story is getting both sides of the case in order to create a more comprehensive report. We make an appeal to journalists to bring up these points mentioned about the case and our responses to the statements made in the Foreign Correspondents Club Thailand panel in their reporting of Dhammakaya. We also invite all foreign correspondents to come to Dhammakaya to ask any questions they may have about the ongoing case or Dhammakaya in general. We have plenty of English speakers who are more than willing to answer any inquiries. If you are too busy to meet at Wat Phra Dhammakaya, we invite you to send us an email at [email protected] for any quick inquiries you may have. A quick 5 minute email may make a huge difference in the comprehension in your reporting.

http://www.dhammakayauncovered.com/letters-to-the-editor/2016/6/22/statement-of-dhammakaya-followers-to-foreign-correspondents

I'm sure your merit making efforts are well appreciated. Keep up the good work and you will soon be eligible to purchase B1 million entrance to heaven.

[robblok]

Its real credible.. 1billion baht from 1 party and the abbot does not know about it.

I still think its about laundering money giving the money to the Abbot and getting it back in an other way. It just does not make sense any other way to defraud a billion baht and give it away without getting money back yourself one way or an other.

This abbot is corrupt because nobody will believe he did not know that a billion baht of donation came from this guy.

[Alive]

I don't follow the temple. I'm just arguing against the hypocrisy of this government and other Buddhists. If that statement is true there is a hell of a lot of other money out there that needs to be accounted for and people who need to face jail for accepting it. If someone gave be 10,000 baht I would question where it came from. Thais who took money need to face charges no matter what organization they work for. If there are member of the Thai red cross or others who received funds those folks need to be arrested too. Of course there are some Thai organizations which are immune from prosecution. In this case, the people should at least know that they received funds. Stop the hypocrisy. Stop calling the temple a scam because all Thai temples are scams. That's all. I've always thought the temple was a cult and its leader weird with his lipstick. There are a lot of pathetic people like this man in Thailand in my view. Some of them no doubt those complaining about Wat Dhammakaya worship. Stop and look at your hypocrisy.

[bangrak]

What is arresting, is this, fundamentally dishonest, proposal does not come from the under-educated masses forming the vast majority of the population, but from a better-off, supposedly well-educated, elitarian clique among the Dhammakaya followers, offering to compensate with its own, large, means for, a bit more of, the money the personal-cult-leader they are totally devoted to has been pocketing for himsself, this offer made to the, also supposedly educated, members of the judicial system!

...Who, actually, could well accept it, as they already did in the past for that same 'monk', believe it or not! That while, in the Thai judicial system, the compensation for suffered 'losses' is indeed (I don't agree with it, but...) accepted in order to wipe away civil procedures, but, 'normally'(...!?) never puts an end to any legal action started(!) in order to punish criminal actions!

The story of this monk-inpersonator is really putting the whole of 'Thai Justice' (yes, I know, but it's really 'in ya face' here!) to an ultimate credibility (I know...) test. And I wouldn't bet even a, devaluated, penny on a 'just' outcome...!

P.S.: and it seems in the previous affairs same as in this one, that 'monk' didn't in fact give ANY of the money he took away for himself, back!!!

Edited June 24, 2016 by bangrak

[bangrak]

I don't follow the temple. I'm just arguing against the hypocrisy of this government and other Buddhists. If that statement is true there is a hell of a lot of other money out there that needs to be accounted for and people who need to face jail for accepting it. If someone gave be 10,000 baht I would question where it came from. Thais who took money need to face charges no matter what organization they work for. If there are member of the Thai red cross or others who received funds those folks need to be arrested too. Of course there are some Thai organizations which are immune from prosecution. In this case, the people should at least know that they received funds. Stop the hypocrisy. Stop calling the temple a scam because all Thai temples are scams. That's all. I've always thought the temple was a cult and its leader weird with his lipstick. There are a lot of pathetic people like this man in Thailand in my view. Some of them no doubt those complaining about Wat Dhammakaya worship. Stop and look at your hypocrisy.

Do you mean there are no 'issues' with Dhammachyo and his personal Dhammakaya cult? Yes or No? No: then let Justice, at last, take its due course! Yes: then look at your own hypocrisy!