Fearing Waco Bloodshed at a Buddhist Temple

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Fearing duplication of 1993's Waco, Texas bloodshed, thousands of Thai troops and police retreated from their three-week siege surrounding a Buddhist temple after failing to find the former abbot who is wanted for alleged financial crimes.

The sensational confrontation on Bangkok's northern edge ended on March 10 and is widely seen as an embarrassing failure by the coup-installed military government which deployed 4,000 security forces in an unsuccessful attempt to arrest one elderly man.

The crackdown against Phra Dhammachayo, who is Dhammakaya temple's former abbot, is part of a broader shake-up of Thailand's Buddhist clergy which is frequently tainted by scandals involving sex, drugs, money and other violations.

Dhammachayo, 72, founded the Dhammakaya temple in the 1970s, promising fast enlightenment and a better reincarnation in exchange for big donations.

He reportedly claimed to perform miracles and to have met Apple computer's late co-founder Steven Jobs in a heavenly encounter.

Thailand's coup-installed military government was not directly threatened by Dhammachayo, but his ability to defy arrest resulted in loud criticism of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha's claims to be tough on corruption.

Previous attempts by security forces to enter the sprawling, multi-billion-dollar Dhammakaya Temple complex and arrest him had also ended in failure.

Dhammachayo is wanted for alleged involvement in the embezzlement of millions of dollars from a local credit union -- bankrupting thousands of customers -- plus money laundering, receipt of stolen property, theft of forest land and more than 100 other cases dating back to 1999.

He has denied all charges of wrongdoing.

The junta insists a go-slow, non-confrontational approach is necessary to avoid violence between his influential breakaway Dhammakaya sect and Buddhist-majority Thailand's mainstream believers.

Dhammachayo claims millions of followers in Thailand plus several temples in the U.S. and elsewhere.

He has not been seen in public for several months, prompting speculation that he may have fled the temple which encompasses hundreds of acres.

Up to 4,000 unarmed troops, police and officials from the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) -- Thailand's equivalent to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations -- began surrounding the temple before dawn on February 16.

Police removed blockades which had been erected at several gates during past months to thwart security forces.

Police also temporarily stopped monks and devotees from leaving or entering the complex.

The missing abbot's devotees responded by digging a water-filled moat in some areas, and erecting other barriers including groups of people sitting down and meditating in the path of security forces.

The temple includes residences for thousands of monks and followers, plus schools, prayer grounds and a gigantic sleek circular shrine popularly described as resembling a flying saucer.

Muscular monks in orange robes shoved and shouted at DSI and police at some gates, and then posted videos of the scuffles on social media.

Some monks also stopped vehicles bringing the police's portable toilets to the temple.

Eventually an agreement was reached after police broke open a gate's locks and entered.

"The Dhammakaya temple has allowed police and DSI officials to carry out a search inside the temple for the suspect," DSI head Col.

Paisit Wongmuang told reporters.

"I don't know his whereabouts, I haven't seen him in about nine months," temple spokesman Phra Sanitwong Wutthiwangso said.

Security forces' first attempt to enter the temple failed in June.

In December, 1,000 helmeted anti-riot police ended their second attempt after a small DSI drone camera fell from the sky and severely cut an officer.

"Police will be very careful to raid the temple, in order to prevent a clash with the temple's devotees, but the former abbot must be arrested," Prime Minister Prayuth said in December.

"We do not want to walk straight into their trap. It is the government's job to control the situation," said Mr. Prayuth, who seized power in a 2014 coup when he was the army's chief.

"I'm asking Phra Dhammachayo to turn himself in to fight the chares," Mr. Prayuth said at the time.

"Authorities must bear in mind the last time security forces invaded the compound of a religious sect," a Bangkok Post editorial warned in December, referring to the FBI's handling of David Koresh's Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas.

"More than 80 people died at that 1993 incident at a Christian sect in Texas. [Thai] authorities have the duty to apprehend the fugitive monk. They have an equal or superior duty to protect everyone from harm," said the editorial, headlined: "End Temple Farce Now.”

Forcible arrest "could cause many deaths and injuries, and would become a major scandal ruining the country's reputation," warned temple spokesman Ong-art Thamnitha in December.

"I can't tell disciples to obey me, because there are millions of them" and some might not remain peaceful, Mr. Ong-art said.

"Dhammakaya teachings represent a denomination of Theravada Buddhism, akin to offshoots in other religions," said Thitinan Pongsudhirak in an analysis published on March 17.

"Phra Dhammachayo commodified his spiritual alternative into a lucrative temple business, pledging instant gratification and attainment of varying levels of heaven, based on how much money was given to the temple for merit-making, even though heavenly doorways are not to be found in the original Buddhist doctrine," said Mr.

Thitinan, an associate professor of political science at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.

Police and DSI officers meanwhile expanded their search for the missing former abbot and searched various buildings in the countryside.

Immigration officials hope Interpol might help nab Dhammachayo if he had fled abroad.

"I am starting to believe that Dhammachayo has mysterious powers," wrote former Armed Forces Security Center official Lt. Gen. Nanthadej Meksawat on his Facebook site -- in a possibly satirical dig at the military government's failure.

"How else could he have escaped the siege?”

***

Richard S. Ehrlich is a Bangkok-based journalist from San Francisco, California, reporting news from Asia since 1978. He graduated from Columbia University's Journalism School and also received Columbia University's Foreign Correspondent's Award. He is a co-author of three non-fiction books about Thailand, including "'Hello My Big Big Honey!' Love Letters to Bangkok Bar Girls and Their Revealing Interviews," "60 Stories of Royal Lineage," and "Chronicle of Thailand: Headline News Since 1946." Mr. Ehrlich also contributed to the chapter about "Ceremonies and Regalia" in a book published in English and Thai titled, "King Bhumibol Adulyadej, A Life's Work: Thailand's Monarchy in Perspective." Mr. Ehrlich's newest Virtual Reality novel titled, "Sheila Carfenders, Doctor Mask & President Akimbo," is an immersive three-dimensional, one-hour experience with Oculus Rift technology.

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