Politics and corruption fuel battle for
Thai Buddhism's top post
AMY SAWITTA LEFEVRE AND
AUKKARAPON NIYOMYAT Jan
15, 2016 REUTERS
Political divisions and allegations of corruption
are fuelling an unholy battle for the leadership of Thai
Buddhism.
Religion is becoming a proxy war for the color-coded
politics that Thailand's junta has quashed since taking power in
2014 in a bid to end a decade of political violence.
The frontrunner for Supreme Patriarch, head of the
country's 300,000 monks, is a 90-year-old abbot who is under
investigation for a tax scam involving luxury cars.
He has ties with the wealthy Dhammakaya Temple,
which is dogged by a scandal of its own and which some devotees
claim is a power base for ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin
Shinawatra and his red-shirted supporters.
Leading the campaign against him is a firebrand monk
best known for his part in street protests backed by the royalist
military elite who revile Thaksin and helped usher in the
junta.
Stuck in the middle are millions of Buddhists whose
religion has been shaken by repeated sex and money scandals, and
now the nation's divisive politics.
The pro-establishment cleric leading the charge
against frontrunner Somjed Phra Maha Ratchamangalacharn says the
military government must honor a pledge to stamp out corrupt
practices that critics say were allowed to flourish during the
Thaksin years, starting with the Supreme Patriarch
nominee.
"Allegations of corruption following this nominee
could be seen as a direct endorsement of corrupt practices," said
the activist monk, Buddha Issara, who this week submitted a
petition with 300,000 signatures calling for the removal of the top
nominee.
Mayanee Thaitae, 33, a royalist activist, said
Thailand's main religion should not be politicized.
"How can you have a nominee who has ties with the
red shirts? One who supports a temple that has corruption cases
against it?" " she said, referring to supporters of Thaksin and his
sister, former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra whose government
was ousted by the army in 2014.
TAINTED
Ailing King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 88, is known as the
"supreme patron" of Buddhism and he used to preside over the
country's most important Buddhist ceremonies.
National anxiety over the royal succession has been
reflected in the years of political instability which has divided
society and now contributed to religious division too.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha has said he wants
the dispute resolved but seems reluctant to meddle in Buddhist
affairs.
The prime minister must forward a nomination for
Supreme Patriarch from a Supreme Council of monks which the king
must then approve.
Thai Buddhism has for years been tainted by reports
of misbehaving monks and mishandling of temple donations,
allegations some worshippers say have eroded its relevance in the
deeply spiritual country.
In the past, the Supreme Patriarch and the council
have shown scant interest in tackling what many feel is a moral
crisis in the religion.
The country's last Supreme Patriarch, Somdet Phra
Nyanasamvara, died in 2013 aged 100.
He was widely viewed as a paragon of humility who
shied away from material excesses, a comparison not lost on those
opposed to the current frontrunner who is being investigated for
fraud.
Dhammakaya, whose headquarters is a sprawling,
futuristic temple in north Bangkok, has been dogged by allegations
of corruption for years. The monastery's abbot was cleared by Thai
Buddhism's governing body last year over allegations he embezzled
millions of dollars in donations.
The abbot rejects fraud allegations.
Despite opposition to the current frontrunner, the
National Office of Buddhism said outsiders would not influence any
decision.
"What the Supreme Council wants to do is the
business of the Supreme Council, normal people have no business and
no say in this," said Somchai Surachatri, spokesman for the
National Office of Buddhism.
"There are traditions that need to be respected and
opposition groups can protest all they want."