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Agence France-Presse

An elderly monk wanted for massive fraud may have escaped a three-week siege of his temple, Thai cops admitted on Saturday, thwarting a much-trumpted dragnet ordered by the kingdom’s junta.
On February 16 the Thai junta invoked special powers to seal off the 1,000-acre grounds of the Wat Dhammakaya temple on the outskirts of Bangkok.
Since then thousands of police officers have laid siege to the temple in a bid to arrest 72-year-old monk Phra Dhammachayo, who was believed to be holed-up inside.
Thai police begin searching scandal-hit Buddhist temple following prime minister’s order
The former abbot, who founded the breakaway Buddhist order in 1970 and steered its rise to riches, is accused of money laundering and accepting embezzled funds worth US$33 million from the jailed boss of a cooperative bank.

The monk’s followers say he is innocent and deny any knowledge of his whereabouts, instead accusing the junta of a witch-hunt against a popular and legitimate Buddhist institution.
We found the temple wall had been destroyed ... it was possible someone helped him escape
Paisit Wongmuang, Department of Special Investigation
The monk’s disappearing act has transfixed the Thai public, spinning out questions of religion and politics and leaving Thailand’s military rulers struggling to explain away the challenge to their authority.
On Saturday cops said Phra Dhammachayo may have left the temple in the early days of the weeks-long siege.
Thai authorities shut down controversial Wat Dhammakaya temple’s 24-hour TV channel amid scandal
“I believe that he escaped between February 16-18,” Paisit Wongmuang, director general of the Department of Special Investigation – Thailand’s FBI-equivalent – told reporters.
“We found the temple wall had been destroyed ... it was possible someone helped him escape,” he said.
Police ended their siege late on Friday but they will maintain a presence in the area which remains under special powers.

Their three week operation lurched into farce as defiant monks led them around secret tunnels, empty rooms and even to the fugitive abbot’s quarters – where cops found a bed with pillows arranged under a sheet in a poor imitation of a sleeping person.
Critics accuse the Dhammakaya sect of promoting a pay-your-way to nirvana philosophy, burnished with “cultish” mass shows of devotion and a sophisticated PR machine.
Thai police hope medical equipment found inside Buddhist temple may help them track down fugitive abbot
The temple is also mired in Thailand’s messy politics, with alleged links to ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
Thaksin was ousted in a 2006 coup and still hated by the Bangkok elite and their military allies who have spent years trying to expunge the influence of his super-rich clan on Thai politics.


Red-faced Thai cops admit monk ‘may have escaped’ temple siege

Thai fugitive Buddhist abbot Phra Dhammajayo seen in March 2015. Photo: EPA

epa05804810 An injured Thai Buddhist monk of Dhammakaya Temple receives medical treatment after clashes with police officers outside the temple in Pathum Thani province, on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand, 20 February 2017. At least two policemen and several monks and their supporters were injured in a clash after Thai law enforcement and authorities issued a statement demanding all laymen and Buddhist monks to leave the temple as part of its raiding plans to apprehend Dhammakaya Temple abbot Phra Dhammachayo, who is charged with alleged land encroachment, money laundering and the embezzlement of funds received from the Klongchan Credit Union Cooperative. EPA/RUNGROJ YONGRIT

epa05806149 A Thai Buddhist monk from the Dhammakaya Temple peeps through protest banners as he and his fellow monks chant during a confrontation with policemen outside Wat Phra Dhammakaya Temple in Pathum Thani province, on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand, 21 February 2017. Leaders of the controversial Dhammakaya Temple called for their supporters to pressure the Thai junta government to revoke its order sealing off the temple compound after Thai law enforcement and military authorities issued a statement demanding all laymen and Buddhist monks to leave the temple as part of their plans to apprehend Phra Dhammachayo, former abbot of Dhammakaya Temple, who is charged with alleged land encroachment, money laundering and involvement in the Klongchan Credit Union Cooperative embezzlement scandal. EPA/RUNGROJ YONGRIT

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