Thailand kicks off process to disrobe wanted monk

[snoop1130]

Thailand kicks off process to disrobe wanted monk

 

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's top religious body on Friday gave a green light for the first step in a process that could lead to the disrobing of a Buddhist monk wanted for money laundering, a senior official said.

 

The move came almost three weeks after police and soldiers besieged the scandal-hit Dhammakaya temple to hunt for its former abbot, Phra Dhammachayo - a standoff which has tested the power of Thailand's military junta.

 

Phra Dhammachayo is wanted for questioning on money-laundering and numerous charges of building on land without authorisation. He has been stripped of his monastic rank by King Maha Vajiralongkorn, but secular authorities have no power to remove the protection afforded by his monk's robes.

 

The head of the National Office of Buddhism, Pongporn Pramsaneh, told reporters that the top religious body, the Supreme Sangha Council, acknowledged the case against Phra Dhammachayo at a meeting on Friday.

 

He said the government office would now forward the case to a top governing monk to proceed according to a religious law on leaving the monkhood.

 

"This is the first step, and the last step will be the disrobing of Phra Dhammachayo," Pongporn said.

 

There is no specific timeframe for the procedure, Pongporn said, which could lead to the temple's former abbot ordering Dhammachayo to be disrobed. Such an order could come even if the monk cannot be found.

 

(Reporting by Aukkarapon Niyomyat; Writing by Patpicha Tanakasempipat; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-3-10

[4evermaat]

Does anyone actually know the process of how a monk can be defrocked or disrobed against his/her will?

[whatawonderfulday]

The front guy with glasses. Looks like Bernie Eccleston with a haircut

[whatawonderfulday]

38 minutes ago, 4evermaat said:

Does anyone actually know the process of how a monk can be defrocked or disrobed against his/her will?

Well it is called "how much will you slip me if we do it quick". And the disrobing process starts from a back of a hand whispered statement and concludes with a Brown Envelope under the table.

 

As for the actual disrobing well that process varies from when a so called monk, high on YaBa, takes his clothes off in the temple grounds singing "what do you think of this then" to when a monk, full of Viagra, pulls in his teenage girlfriends for a nights entertainment in which case they do it for him.

Edited March 10, 2017 by whatawonderfulday

[Rhys]

... and so it drags on ..... a little more?

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Thai police end search of temple without finding monk

By Aukkarapon Niyomyat and Patpicha Tanakasempipat

 

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai police ended their search of Thailand's biggest temple on Friday after laying siege to it for more than three weeks without finding the former abbot, who is wanted for suspected money-laundering.

 

The standoff at the Dhammakaya temple between thousands of police and saffron-robed monks has posed one of the greatest challenges to the military government since it took power in 2014 and largely neutralised opposition.

 

The influential Phra Dhammachayo, 72, is wanted for questioning over suspected money-laundering and numerous charges of building on land without authorisation.

 

But there are deeper roots to a confrontation between the military-led and royalist establishment and a scandal-hit temple whose practices jar with conservatives and which is widely seen as having had links to an ousted populist movement.

 

Paisit Wongmuang, director-general of the police Department of Special Investigation, told reporters after another day of searching on Friday that the authorities would still try to track down Phra Dhammachayo.

 

But restrictions on the temple area would be lifted "when everything returns to normal". The government used the emergency law Article 44 to allow police to enter the temple.

 

"We are glad there is a sign of peaceful resolution but cannot rest assured until Article 44 is revoked," senior monk Phra Pasura Dantamano told Reuters.

 

The temple - 10 times the area of the Vatican City and topped by a UFO-shaped gold dome - dwarfs Thailand's 40,000 or so other temples in wealth as well as size. It claims millions of followers, although still a small minority of Thai Buddhists.

 

Phra Dhammachayo helped found the temple and remains influential. Aides say they have not seen him for months and that he is too sick for questioning. They say the charges against him are politically motivated.

 

STALEMATE

 

 

The situation was a stalemate, said Kan Yuenyong of the Siam Intelligence Unit think-tank.

 

"Nobody wins or loses," he said.

 

As the search was ending, Thailand's top religious body gave a green light for the first step in a process that could lead to the disrobing of the monk.

 

Phra Dhammachayo has been stripped of his monastic rank by King Maha Vajiralongkorn, but secular authorities have no power to remove the protection afforded by his monk's robes.

 

The head of the National Office of Buddhism, Pongporn Pramsaneh, told reporters that the top religious body, the Sangha Supreme Council, acknowledged the case against Phra Dhammachayo at a meeting on Friday.

 

The government would now forward the case to a senior governing monk who might proceed with steps that could lead to his disrobing even if he can't be found.

 

"This is the first step, and the last step will be the disrobing of Phra Dhammachayo," Pongporn said.

 

Traditionalist Buddhists accuse the temple of commercialism and say it has put Nirvana up for sale. It says it is just as dedicated to Theravada Buddhism as them and its money is only to do good works.

 

Although it rejects any suggestion of political links, it is widely seen as having had ties to the populist movement of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, overthrown in 2006, and his sister Yingluck Shinawatra, who led the government that was ousted in the most recent coup in 2014.

 

(Additional reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat; Writing by Matthew Tostevin; Editing by Nick Macfie)

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-03-10

 

 

[fruitman]

 

55555555 lohhh linn

[Enoon]

 

No wonder that everyone looks happy.

 

The "Core" dodges another bullet.

 

 

Edited March 10, 2017 by Enoon

[NCC1701A]

Thailand. The hub of disrobing.

[NCC1701A]

Photo caption:

 

"This is a fun game! We pretend we are monks and you pretend you are police and Army. Let's play for another month!" 

Edited March 10, 2017 by NCC1701A

[beautifulthailand99]

The Dhammakaya brown envelopes like the Buddha Dome must be so big they can be seen from space !!

[harada]

Chalerm revisited.

[PatOngo]

Why is it that when Phra Daeng gets caught doing ya ba with his girlfriend in Nakhon Nowhere, they disrobe him there and then at the police station?

[whatawonderfulday]

9 minutes ago, PatOngo said:

Why is it that when Phra Daeng gets caught doing ya ba with his girlfriend in Nakhon Nowhere, they disrobe him there and then at the police station?

That's just to distract him why the rest of the BIB are banging his girlfriend

[darksidedog]

Well this one seems to be winding down. I wonder what the next debacle will be?

[mtls2005]

Why can't they use Article 44 to defrock a monk?

 

Would it set a bad precedent?

 

It seems like there are "reforms" afoot to wrest control of the national religion from the SSC, and bestow it on a more easily controlled entity. Then they can use that entity to defrock any monks they don't like.

[TheFishman1]

Surprise come on the Monk had so much time to disappear TIT

[rodney earl]

Amazing thailand!!!

 

[yellowboat]

12 hours ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

The situation was a stalemate, said Kan Yuenyong of the Siam Intelligence Unit think-tank.

 

"Nobody wins or loses," he said.

Well the military government has continuously made itself look bad; allowing the Abbott to escape, not having a clue as to his whereabouts, having men in jackboots and fatigues bossing around monks, talk of special courts for monks instead of just applying the law correctly.  It looks terrible.  

[yellowboat]

Abbott long gone.  junta befuddled.  Same same no change

[TKDfella]

.....

[Ozfatboy]

14 hours ago, whatawonderfulday said:

The front guy with glasses. Looks like Bernie Eccleston with a haircut

I wondered what Bernie was doing now he is not the Chief Executive of the F1 Group

[wirat69]

 

[Ramen087]

12 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

Thailand. The hub of disrobing.

Odds are I won't read anything more funny than the above comment today....grazia.

 

 

[trump items excluded]

[Mickmouse1]

I can not stop LOL?????????????

[ddavidovsky]

Now the monks are publicly saying this is political. The rift in society is deepening.

[Mickmouse1]

I think the entire GANG should be Defrocked but not disrobe them in public please unless we cover our eyes?

[elgordo38]

14 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

Thailand. The hub of disrobing.

I hope your not the guy I see in the building across the road with a telescope trained on my balcony. 

[elgordo38]

1 hour ago, Mickmouse1 said:

I think the entire GANG should be Defrocked but not disrobe them in public please unless we cover our eyes?

Well if they do do this in public they will need to find a surrogate lookalike standin for the good monk. He had years to formulate his exit plans. He more than likely did a BIB psychic profile and drew a blank. Yes it would be a good place to set up a fig leaf stand. The term naked as new born babes comes to mind. 

[mtls2005]

The new head of the NOB petitioned the SSC to have Dhammajayo defrocked, but that's not how it works. Only the monk who oversees the region/district can defrock a monk, and it is a complex process. It also might help if he were found guilty of something first? But these days with the junta it seems like "judicial reforms" have led to being "guilty until proven innocent".

 

Prayut used Article 44 to sack the previous NOB head, and replace him...

 

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/breakingnews/30307266

 

presumably with someone more willing to carry Prayut's water?

 

 

 

Edited March 11, 2017 by mtls2005