Police to send ‘Phra Khruba Chaiwat’ case to CSD for fraud probe

Police are preparing to forward a case to the Crime Suppression Division to take legal action against Phra Khruba Chaiwat of Wat Pa Chana Jai on allegations of public fraud, as the commander of the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division questioned complainants in an investigation into alleged encroachment on forest land and ALRO land.

On February 23 at the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division, a former nun Sika Bhud and Sika Mon, two female lay devotees described as former disciples of Phra Khruba Chaiwat, met Pol Maj Gen Anek Taosupap, the division commander, for more than two hours to provide information about the origins of the Wat Pa Chana Jai meditation site in Saraburi.

Pol Maj Gen Anek said his unit would primarily handle alleged offences involving encroachment on ALRO land, forest areas, and related forestry offences. He said officials responsible at ALRO and the Royal Forest Department had been informed of what evidence needs to be compiled in order to file a complaint and pursue legal action against those responsible, and he expected a complaint could be lodged within this week once the detailed supporting evidence is provided in full.

He said the unit had been invited to join two rounds of inter-agency meetings involving, among others, the Royal Forest Department, ALRO, the National Anti-Corruption Commission, and the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission, before launching a joint operation to inspect more than 2,000 rai at the Wat Pa Chana Jai site.

He said the land under scrutiny was clearly separated into two parts. The first part had originally been a national reserved forest. After the Royal Forest Department lifted that designation, it handed over more than 2,000 rai and nearby areas to ALRO to manage. Within that 2,000-rai area, ALRO allocated some plots to farmers for cultivation, particularly flat land.

He said part of the area later became the Wat Pa Chana Jai forest garden meditation zone and was later divided into an “Ariya village” area. He said both areas are land that ALRO allocated to farmers for cultivation, and that he had seen evidence including sale contracts involving multi-million-baht payments, rather than the land being donated.

Pol Maj Gen Anek said the land remains ALRO property, but that farmers who obtained ALRO rights sold on some of their plots to the meditation centre. Another section, located on a hilltop and unsuitable for farming, had not been allocated to farmers for livelihoods and therefore remained under ALRO’s control, he said. However, he said the area had been levelled to create a religious activity ground known as Pha Chana Jai, which he said was not agricultural use. In principle, ALRO would reclaim such land to reallocate it to other farmers, he said. From evidence found during inspections, police said the alleged encroachment on ALRO land dated back to 2023.

Regarding a press briefing by the meditation centre’s lawyer on February 21, which claimed that a new ALRO law allows rights to be transferred to others, Pol Maj Gen Anek said this cannot be done. He said the law permits transfers only to heirs — for example, from parents to children after the parents have died — and said the argument being raised was an improper attempt to stretch legal wording. He added that claiming a rights-holder had relinquished rights and therefore the land could be used was also invalid. If rights are relinquished, the land must be returned to ALRO, he said. Any further use requires ALRO approval, and checks found ALRO had not granted permission.

On alleged public fraud, Pol Maj Gen Anek said that if there are complainants who believe they were persuaded, deceived, or induced into believing claims — leading them to buy, transfer, or hand over money or assets — such conduct could amount to public fraud. He added that public promotion, whether through social media or other channels, could be considered dissemination to the general public and therefore constitute deception of the public.

He said Pol Maj Gen Jaroonkiat Pankaew, deputy commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau, had assigned the Crime Suppression Division to act as the lead agency on the public fraud case, while the environmental crime division would handle alleged encroachment on ALRO land and forest areas. He said complainants connected to ALRO matters have begun filing complaints with investigators, and “good citizens” have provided information about alleged encroachment and operations at the Wat Pa Chana Jai site. He added he had received information that multiple people may come forward to file public fraud complaints.

Sika Mon said she had stayed at the meditation centre for about eight months. She said she works in prefabricated housing construction and was contacted by Phra Chaiwat to help build 17 houses, which she said have now been completed. She said she paid some expenses in advance, but after completion she did not receive payment, with the reason given being that the work did not match the agreed specifications. She said she was then pressured to leave the site.

A former devotee, Sika Bhud, who previously appeared on a well-known TV programme, said she gave a statement to investigators about being deceived into buying a house and land worth 300,000 baht. She said she also made donations on multiple occasions, with total payments of nearly 5 million baht, before being pressured to leave the meditation centre after her savings were exhausted.