PATHUM THANI - The Department of Special Investigation has ordered monks and people who are not residents of Wat Phra Dhammakaya to leave the temple or face legal action despite the temple asking the government to end its search.
DSI director-general Paisit Wongmuang said on Sunday that non-resident monks and lay people must leave Wat Phra Dhammakaya by 3pm on Sunday or they would be considered as having defied an order of the National Council for Peace and Order and be liable to up to one year in jail and/or a fine of up to 20,000 baht.
Last week the NCPO declared the compound of Wat Phra Dhammakaya as an area under control and subject to a search for its former abbot Phra Dhammajayo who is wanted for forest encroachment, money laundering and receiving stolen assets in connection with his meditation centres in several provinces and the multi-billion-baht embezzlement at Klongchan Credit Union Co-operative.
When the deadline expires, officials will check the identities of monks and people inside the temple against a list of resident monks and followers of Wat Phra Dhammakaya supplied by its management, Pol Col Paisit said.
The order responds to an earlier allegation that officials had blocked people from leaving the temple compound, and was also intended to facilitate the search, he said.
The DSI chief said officials still have no idea where Phra Dhammajayo was because the buildings and various other structures within the temple's vast compound, covering more than 2,300 rai, were complexes.
Relevant officials were ordered to watch for a possible attempt by Phra Dhammajayo to flee the country, Pol Col Paisit said.
He did not rule out reports that authorities would cut off water and electricity at the temple, saying they had several measures in hand ranging from soft ones to harsh ones.
Meanwhile, Phra Sanitwong Wutthiwaso, the temple's communication chief, asked the government to end the search, saying management had cooperated with past searches and DSI officials had already sealed local buildings with special tape.
The monk said people did not want to leave the temple because they were worried about the monks who were their children and relatives and feared that some parties could place illegal objects inside the compound to frame the temple.
Temple officials could not check inside authorities' numerous vehicles arriving for the search on Friday, the monk said.
The order to control the temple compound had discouraged monks from leaving to collect alms or attend religious ceremonies and examinations, Phra Sanitwong said.
He asked the government not to cut off water and power supply, saying the temple management had cooperated well with searches.
Authorities continued to block followers from entering the temple. Lay people sat, prayed and parked their vehicles in the way that caused traffic congestion for several kilometres on Bang Khan-Nong Sua Road.
Opponents of the temple gave moral support and beverages to security officias there and cursed followers for causing traffic problems.
Followers of Wat Phra Dhammakaya sit and pray outside the temple as they are blocked from entering it in Pathum Thani province on Sunday. (Photo by Pongpat Wongyala)