DSI sets Bt5 million bail for elusive abbot

THE DEPARTMENT of Special Investigation (DSI) has set a bail of Bt5 million for Phra Dhammachayo, the abbot of Dhammakaya Temple, if the monk surrenders today to hear money-laundering and related charges.

Samphun Sermcheep, the abbot’s lawyer, said yesterday he could not confirm if the controversial monk would turn himself in today, the DSI deadline for Phra Dhammachayo to hear the charges.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday said the case against the abbot should not lead to a conflict between Buddhists.

“Don’t let this case cause a split among Buddhists,” Prayut said. “The government does not side with any party. My request is that there should be no attempt to incite people to fight each other.”

The PM said his government would focus on enforcing the law.

Earlier, Dhammayaka Temple petitioned the court to review the DSI’s arrest warrant for Phra Dhammachayo but the court said it was legitimate and the warrant would remain in force.

The abbot is facing charges of conspiring to launder money and ill-gotten wealth, including a big donation from a bankrupt savings cooperative.

Samphun said he had no idea whether the abbot would see DSI officials to hear the charges as required by the agency. The legal team would inform him of the bail amount and its conditions after discussing the matter with DSI’s deputy director-general Pol Lt-Colonel Somboon Sarasit.

The lawyer said he had already told the abbot that it would be more complicated to seek a bail and temporary release from custody if he refused to hear the DSI charges and was eventually arrested. However, the temple’s spokesperson said earlier that Phra Dhammachayo would not be turning himself in hence the DSI will have to inform him of the charges in the temple.

Earlier, the temple showed images of Phra Dhammachayo on a patient’s bed inside the temple’s in-house clinic near Bangkok with one of his legs swollen. The lawyer said he is not sure how the abbot would be taken to hear DSI’s charges if the monk decided to do so tomorrow.

DSI chief Pol Colonel Paisit Wongmuang said that as of yesterday there was no place set up outside the temple for Phra Dhammachayo to hear the charges.

Meanwhile Dr Chuchai Pornpattanaphun, who has been treating Phra Dhammachayo, yesterday asked the Medical Council of Thailand to send specialists to examine the abbot’s health condition so as to remove any doubts about an earlier diagnosis.

Disciples yesterday continued to visit Dhammakaya Temple as the temple called on the DSI to come to the temple and serve the charges against its abbot. 

Dr Chuchai said the monk has been suffering from deep vein thrombosis on one of his legs as well as acute thrombosis so he could not travel to hear the charges at the DSI headquarters as required by today's deadline. In addition, there were press reports that an earlier diagnosis by Dr Siripong Patanathanawisut was not accurate so the Medical Council of Thailand was asked to send specialists to examine the abbot again to clarify the situation.

Dr Chuchai said the temple’s in-house clinic has modern equipment such as an ultra-sound machine so the diagnosis was credible. He said authorities have to respect the patient’s rights, which could not be violated. Impartial doctors from the Medical Council of Thailand should take charge of this matter, he advised.

Dr Chuchai said the patient has the right to decide where he should be treated and the abbot had had a bad experience about 10 years ago when he was treated at a hospital. Hence he preferred to be treated at the temple’s in-house clinic despite calls for him to go to an outside hospital for treatment.

Dr Somsak Lohleka, president of the Medical Council of Thailand, said the organisation would consider this matter next week after which specialists would be assigned to examine the abbot.