Such criminality isn’t limited to the lower ranks of the Thai monkhood, with critics of the Buddhist institution in Thailand likening it to a “poisoned fruit.” While regular monks tend to make the news for violent and debaucherous offenses, those at the top of the Sangha leadership are more often embroiled in financial crime.“[These monks are] a victim of the society as well… [We] just point out that individual monks are bad, they’re this and that. But we have to ask, ‘What made them become like that?’”
Buddhist monks attend the Makha Bucha celebrations at Wat Dhammakaya temple in Pathum Thani province, north of Bangkok on February 16, 2022. Photo: Jack TAYLOR/AFP
As a result, Kulabkaew noted, some see monkhood simply as an easy way to procure food, shelter, and financial support without necessarily having to abide by Buddhist teachings. “Monastic life in Thailand has long been temporary,” said Kulabkaew. “So there are chances that youngsters with dubious backgrounds or even criminals get ordained as well.”Meanwhile, some enrol in monasteries to get away from legal trouble. Exploiting a lack of background checks at temples, fugitives have been known to seek ordination as monks while attempting to escape prosecution for serious crimes. In 2019, a 40-year-old abbot in Suphan Buri province, central Thailand, was found to have avoided charges of attempted murder and illegal weapon possession for 15 years, after allegedly firing gunshots at people in the 2000s and then checking himself into monkhood. It wasn’t until Thai police launched a large crackdown on criminal monks that he was finally detected and arrested.“The ultimate goal of Buddhism is for the people to get enlightened, and not be attached to the material world… [But] most of the society is learning that not all those who are wearing saffron can be a holy or respectable person.”
