Thai police raid Buddhist temple

– Thai police began sweeping a scandal-hit Buddhist temple yesterday to search for a wanted monk who has evaded arrest for months in a saga highlighting a split over the nation’s faith.

The search of the powerful and ultra rich Wat Dhammakaya temple on Bangkok’s outskirts comes after Thailand’s junta chief invoked special powers to put its 400ha compound under military control.

Previous attempts to raid the temple were thwarted after thousands of devotees showed up to defend Phra Dhammachayo, the septuagenarian monk who founded the breakaway Buddhist order in 1970.

The former abbot is believed to be holed up inside the temple, which is famous for its space-age architecture, but has not been seen in public for months.

He is accused of money laundering and accepting embezzled funds worth 1.2 billion baht (R430 million) from the jailed owner of a cooperative bank.

In a day of high drama and stagecraft, thousands of police and soldiers were bussed into the site before dawn yesterday, blocking roads leading to the vast temple. The operation followed a sudden order endorsed by junta leader Prayut Chan-O-Cha that gave authorities power to block the entrance.

“The Dhammakaya temple has allowed police and DSI officials to carry out a search inside the temple for the suspect,” the head of the DSI, Thailand’s equivalent of the FBI, told reporters after an hourslong standoff.

“If [the abbot] thinks he is innocent he should surrender and enter the judicial process,” said Colonel Paisit Wongmuang. – AFP