Thai monks and cops in bizarre temple turf war
PATHUM THANI, Thailand: One side of the temple gate is blocked by cops in blue, the other by rows of bald men in orange — the frontline of a bizarre standoff between the Thai state and Buddhist monks that is raising questions of impunity, religion and power.
The Dhammakaya temple’s compound in northern Bangkok has been under siege for two weeks as thousands of officers try to arrest the sect’s 72-year- old spiritual leader.
Phra Dhammachayo, who is accused of colluding in a 33 million embezzlement, is believed to be hiding somewhere on the temple’s sprawling 1,000 acre grounds, an area twice the size of Monaco.
The Thai junta, which has run the country since 2014, has invoked special powers to get him but so far failed spectacularly.
Police were initially led on a merry dance through secret tunnels, empty rooms and even to the fugitive abbot’s quarters — where they found a bed with pillows arranged under a sheet in a poor imitation of a sleeping person. But defiant monks and temple followers have now blocked officers from entering the temple and resuming the search.
With the stand-off lurching into farce, the Thai junta that ordered the raid is fast ‘ losing face’ and transfixing a public banned from criticising the generals who seized power in a 2014 coup.
“At first this area was controlled by police ... but the temple devotees took it back,” Phra Pasura Dantamano, a senior monk, explained after his staff helped sneak reporters inside the compound.
Around him sat rows of monks and disciples chanting mantras in the direction of officers who have ordered them to leave but fear sparking a violent confrontation.
Temple staff — who deny knowledge of the former abbot’s whereabouts — say he is innocent and accuse the junta of launching a politicised witch-hunt.