Showing 1 - 10 of 11
No police apology for monk's violent arrest
News, Veera Prateepchaikul, Published on 28/05/2018
» Nobody doubts why the Crime Suppression Division police had to make the arrest of Phra Buddha Isara, the abbot of Wat Or Noi in Nakhon Pathom, before dawn of May 24 at his living quarters on the temple grounds.
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).
Prosecution fails to clear up 2006 election scandal
News, Veera Prateepchaikul, Published on 08/02/2016
» After almost 10 years of living with the stigma of being electoral cheats, which resulted in the dissolution of the Thai Rak Thai Party by the Constitutional Court, several former members of the defunct party are celebrating the Supreme Court's verdict last Wednesday which, they claim, has found the party not guilty.
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.
Let charges flow thick and fast in Dhammakaya saga
News, Veera Prateepchaikul, Published on 02/03/2015
» Making merit at a temple with money borrowed from a co-operative set up in that same temple's compound so that you can go to heaven or find after-life happiness appears to be Mongkhol Setthi Credit Union Co-operative's marketing gimmick.
Finally, Dhammakaya's political alliances made clear
Veera Prateepchaikul, Published on 27/02/2015
» I really admire the bluntness of Dr Weng Tojirakarn.
The Sangha's shock ruling leaves it ripe for reform
News, Veera Prateepchaikul, Published on 23/02/2015
» The Sangha Supreme Council will not defrock controversial monk Phra Dhammachayo, or Phra Thepyarn Mahamunee, the abbot of Wat Dhammakaya, and that decision has landed it in a hot and sticky situation.