Jatuporn backing wrong candidate
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Controversial politician Jatuporn Promphan has warned of a big public protest if Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha does not put forward the name of Somdet Phra Maha Ratchamangalacharn (aka Somdet Chuang) as a candidate for supreme patriarch.
In my opinion, despite being the most senior of eight potential candidates, Somdet Chuang is the most controversial.
Somdet Chuang was a mentor to Phra Dhammachayo of the Wat Dhammakaya sect. He is seen as a big supporter of Phra Dhammachayo in all his unorthodox and controversial behaviour.
Phra Dhammachayo has been accused of attempting to transform Thai Buddhism into a religion of materialistic values rather than one that teaches us to seek the “middle path” in pursuing a peaceful way of life.
In short, Phra Dhammachayo is a materialist monk rather than spiritual or intellectual one. And what he teaches is not the genuine Buddhism that we Thais have been taught for centuries.
Lastly, if a religious disagreement threatens to bring civil
war, then the disagreement is not actually about religion, but about politics.
Vint Chavala
