IN THE first major public rally since the 2014 coup, a brief clash broke out between angry monks and soldiers in front of the grand Buddhist Park in Nakhon Pathom province yesterday amid an erupting conflict within the clergy.
Pushing and shoving, with some grappling in headlocks, took place just before a seminar on "Thwarting a Plot to Overthrow the Ruling Thai Sangha Body" started inside the park.
Soldiers had tried to block the first group of monks from entering the compound but were unsuccessful, and thousands more eventually made it through.
The Sangha and Buddhists Alliance of Thailand (Sbat) |staged the event to show support for Somdej Phra Maha Ratchamangalacharn (Somdej Chuang), who has been nominated by the Sangha Supreme Council as the new Supreme Patriarch.
However, a source from the ruling National Council for Peace and Order said the rally would give the government an excuse to further delay any move to seek royal endorsement for the nomination.
Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday instructed police and military officers to restrain themselves when dealing with the rallying monks, a Government House source said.
"The prime minister does not want to see the situation worsen or get out of control," the source said, adding that the PM was concerned that appointing a new supreme patriarch at this time could worsen conflict within the monkhood.
Prayut has said he would not seek royal endorsement while conflict remains unresolved over the nomination of Somdej Chuang.
Yesterday's event, coordinated by the Buddhism Protection Centre of Thailand (BPCT) and the Association of Academics for Buddhism, drew thousands of monks to Buddhist Park in Phutthamonthon district.
Monks dispersed last night
Many travelled from the Northeast and the North in buses, vans, pickups, and private cars. The group dispersed late yesterday.
Somdej Chuang has drawn severe criticism from many monks and organisations despite being nominated to be top monk. So, to date, he has yet to officially become Thailand's Supreme Patriarch.
BPCT secretary general Phra Medhi Dhammajahn said the show of solid support for Somdej Chuang should help deter any plot against him. He also headed to Government House yesterday evening to submit a petition to Deputy PM and Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan.
The petition calls on the PM to seek royal endorsement for the Sangha Supreme Council's nomination of a new supreme patriarch.
In a five-point "resolution", the monks also demanded that the new constitution state that Buddhism is Thailand's national religion, and urged state agencies not to interfere in monastic affairs or threaten legal action against monks accused of violating criminal laws.
Deputy director of the National Buddhism Office, Kanok Saengprasert, said monks who went to Buddha Monthon yesterday said they would practice dhamma at the park on the occasion of Makha Bucha Day. One of the most important days in Buddhism, it falls on February 22.
In a related development, former senator Paiboon Nititawan called on the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) yesterday to investigate Somdej Chuang, who is now acting Supreme Patriarch and chair of the Sangha Supreme Council, for his alleged favours toward Phra Dhammachayo.
Lately, the council resolved that the case to defrock Phra Dhammachayo had already ended.
"It's widely known that links and benefits between Somdej Chuang and Phra Dhammachayo have been alleged," Paiboon said. He used to chair a committee on reform of Buddhism.
In the eyes of many Buddhists, Phra Dhammachayo - the abbot of Wat Phra Dhammakaya in Pathum Thani - has not been a monk since 1999, as per letters written by the late Supreme Patriarch.
The letters can be interpreted as saying that Phra Dhammachayo lost his right to be a monk for violating the monks' code of conduct by putting assets - including 1,500 rai of land that belonged to the temple - under his name and distorting Buddhist doctrines. The land ownership case was picked up by prosecutors and Phra Dhamma-chayo agreed to turn over the land and assets worth more than Bt900 million to the temple in 2006.
Paiboon said yesterday the DSI should take up the case against Somdej Chuang on suspicion that he may have abused his authority in favouring Phra Dhammachayo.
Meanwhile, dozens of police and soldiers were positioned at Wat Phra Dhammakaya yesterday in the wake of reports that Phra Buddha Isara's followers might stage a rally at the temple.