Showing 1 - 10 of 10
NOB transfer harms govt anti-graft drive
News, Veera Prateepchaikul, Published on 11/09/2017
» Pol Lt Col Pongporn Pramsaneh has been widely recognised as an honest and straightforward officer in the Department of Special Investigation – a rare breed in the police force. It explains why he was ordered shifted from the DSI's head of the Tax Litigation Office to lead the National Office of Buddhism (NOB) on Feb 25 by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to do an unenviable mission. His task was to clean up the mess concerning the misappropriation of government funds for the renovation of temples and for schools on temple grounds.
Thaksin tax will need divine intervention
News, Veera Prateepchaikul, Published on 20/03/2017
» As a former law student, I had never heard this particular phrase before. It came straight from the mouth of Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam, the government's top legal counsel who has served many previous governments in the capacity of cabinet secretary-general because of his extensive legal expertise.
Temple raid is once again a shambles
News, Veera Prateepchaikul, Published on 27/02/2017
» A friend of mine who was once a senior official in the Religious Affairs Department told me at a reunion of Chulalongkorn University political science old boys on Saturday that he sent a letter to the prime minister with suggestions on how to deal with Phra Dhammajayo, the former abbot of Wat Phra Dhammakaya. He said he disagreed with the widely-publicised way the government has gone about its latest search of the temple to find the elusive monk, adding it will not work.
Will the elusive abbot ever be arrested?
News, Veera Prateepchaikul, Published on 21/11/2016
» November the 30th. Mark this date on your smartphone's calendar if you are a fan or a foe of Phra Dhammajayo or Phra Thepyarnmahamunee, the elusive abbot of Wat Phra Dhammakaya.
Monastic community must get its act together
Veera Prateepchaikul, Published on 16/02/2016
» Hands off, and mind your own business! That, in essence, is one of the demands put to the government by a group of monks calling themselves the Sangha and Buddhist Alliance of Thailand and led by Phra Methee Dhammacharn, secretary-general of the Buddhism Protection Centre of Thailand.
Struggle for power in the temple
News, Veera Prateepchaikul, Published on 15/02/2016
» The United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) -- the red-shirt movement -- has until recently been keeping a safe distance from the controversies surrounding Phra Dhammachayo, the abbot of Wat Dhammakaya, who is under intense pressure by groups known to oppose former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra to be defrocked.
Top Buddhism institutions need to wise up
Veera Prateepchaikul, Published on 12/02/2016
» There seems to be no stopping Thai Buddhists' loss of faith in the country’s two top Buddhist institutions – the Sangha Supreme Council (SSC) and the National Office of Buddhism (NOB).
Why the secrecy, the rush for a new supreme patriarch?
Veera Prateepchaikul, Published on 15/01/2016
» The country has been without a supreme patriarch for two years, since the death of Somdet Phra Nyanasamvana Suvaddhana Mahathera, the 19th supreme patriarch, on Oct 24, 2013.
Dhammakaya splits the Sangha and Thai society
News, Veera Prateepchaikul, Published on 11/01/2016
» There is little doubt about the influence of the Dhammakaya sect among the middle class in this country. That influence has now spread to the Sangha Supreme Council.
Chance to reform Sangha is slipping away
News, Veera Prateepchaikul, Published on 09/03/2015
» Paiboon Nititawan, chairman of the National Reform Council's committee on Buddhism, made a shock announcement last week that the panel would disband after accomplishing its mission.