Showing 1 - 10 of 74
News, Sanitsuda Ekachai, Published on 11/04/2022
» The country's latest temple corruption scandal occurred at a first-class royal monastery; the centre of a sect founded by reformist monarch King Mongkut to clean up the clergy. What an irony!
Oped, Editorial, Published on 09/04/2022
» The latest case of embezzlement at Wat Bowon Niwet Vihara in Bangkok and its branches upcountry should send alarm bells ringing about an existing flaw in the way Buddhist temples are financially managed.
Oped, Editorial, Published on 16/10/2021
» A recent order by the Supreme Sangha Council prohibiting Buddhist monks and novices from studying non-dhamma subjects is a step backwards in the development of clerical society.
News, Postbag, Published on 08/11/2020
» Re: "Light at end of tunnel for unity panel?" (Opinion, Nov 7).
Oped, Postbag, Published on 05/11/2020
» I believe it is true that the Thai people seek compromise but in their politics a lasting compromise has been hard to achieve for the past 20 years.
News, John Lloyd, Published on 24/12/2018
» Christmas is invariably the time for a grouch that neither Christ nor mas(s) feature much in a festival meant to rededicate Christian believers to the worship of the son of God. Materialism, especially for children, swamps, on this view, any reflection on the meaning of a Christian -- or religious -- life.
News, Sanitsuda Ekachai, Published on 20/06/2018
» Fear and fury is gripping the clergy. Following the arrest and defrocking of high-profile monks for temple corruption, temples nationwide are fearful of financial inspections while monks are up in arms against the idea of prohibiting them from receiving money from the laity.
Life, Patcharawalai Sanyanusin, Published on 18/06/2018
» Money is a tantalising thing, coveted by many. But worldly goods can pose a threat to those who are called to a higher order. The seven ex-monks from three famous Bangkok temples who were in the media limelight over the weeks are no exception.
News, Sanitsuda Ekachai, Published on 07/06/2018
» The recent crackdown on the Sangha Supreme Council elders is long overdue. Corrupt monks in high places have escaped the law for far too long. But abuse of power will not go away as long as the clergy remains a closed, feudal autocracy under state patronage.
News, Khemthong Tonsakulrungruang, Published on 31/05/2018
» The early morning of May 24 was the morning of the long knives for the Thai Sangha. Commandos stormed Wat Or Noi in Nakhon Pathom to arrest the abbot, then Phra Buddha Isara, a staunch supporter of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO). In an unrelated case, five of seven other senior monks accused of embezzlement and money laundering were arrested from three famous temples in Bangkok. The other two remain on the run.