Top priest toppled
The arrest of a renowned Buddhist in Thailand over embezzlement charges linked to a gambling habit has rocked the Southeast Asian country’s religious community.
A Thai court approved the arrest of Phra Dhammavajiranuvatara early Thursday. The abbot of the famous Wat Rai Khing temple in Nakhon Pathom province willingly surrendered to the police on the same day, arriving at court dressed in the traditional orange robes of a monk.
Phra disrobed from the orange symbolizing a monk’s commitment to a life of purity
Following his testimony before Thailand’s Crime Suppression Division (CSD) on Thursday, Phra disrobed from the orange symbolizing a monk’s commitment to a life of purity, into white robes. Like a sergeant being stripped of his stripes, the change of uniform reflects the seriousness of the abbot’s fall from grace in the Buddhist nation.
The CSD alleges Phra embezzled 300 million baht ($9m) to bankroll his online gambling activities.
State influence
Under Thai law, high priests like Phra are considered state officials, and as such hold responsibility for purchasing or safeguarding property on behalf of their clergy.
According to a Thai national news source, CSD agents discovered evidence of money transfers from Wat Rai Khing temple accounts to external personal accounts. Investigators followed the money to reveal Phra’s links to online baccarat gambling websites.
According to the Deputy Commissioner of Thailand’s Central Investigation Bureau, the arrest of Phra was scheduled for Friday, but the abbot instead turned himself in Thursday after becoming aware of the investigation.
Police also took Ms. Aranyawan, a woman named in Phra’s arrest warrant, into custody from her condominium in Pattaya.
School ties
Aranyawan admitted to supporting the monk’s criminal activities and that she’d known Phra since she was a pupil at Wat Rai Khing school. According to Thai news source Khaosodenglish, after receiving Phra’s kindness, Aranyawan asked to borrow 40 million baht ($1.2m) in 2021 to make an investment.
Aranyawan allegedly kept in contact with Phra via video calls, with investigators uncovering conversation clips between the two on the collection of debts each worth 500,000 baht ($15,029) on multiple occasions.
Agents also found videos of Aranyawan bathing on Phra’s mobile phone, which is also at odds with his order’s renunciation of worldly pleasures.
