Thailand cracks down on money hungry monks, orders halt to donations and sale of holy objects at temples

Under growing pressure from Thailand’s military government, and their own religious bodies, Buddhist monks have launched a fresh round of reforms in recent weeks to clean up temples and overhaul a religion stalked by scandal.

Buddhism, Thailand’s dominant religion, is followed by more than 90 per cent of the population.

But its image has suffered over sex scandals involving monks and allegations of money laundering by a former abbot of Thailand’s biggest temple. The scandals have prompted calls for tighter checks on the finances of thousands of temples across the country that are among Thailand’s popular tourist attractions.

Since September, senior monks have issued orders to enforce stronger discipline for Thailand’s more than 300,000 monks and some 40,000 temples.

The orders come at a sensitive time as Thailand prepares to cremate the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej next week and the formal coronation of his only son, King Maha Vajiralongkorn, likely taking place at the end of the year.

The written instructions tell monks to stop asking for donations and temples to stop selling holy objects inside temple grounds. The instructions appear to be aimed at making temple finances more transparent and to counter criticism about the commercialisation of religion in the Southeast Asian nation.

Other orders instruct senior monks to tightly control “inappropriate use of social media” by monks to prevent “criticism from the public”.