A group of followers of the late revered monk Luangta Maha Bua Yannasampanno yesterday submitted a letter to the National Reform Council (NRC) objecting to a call that all Buddhist abbots and other senior monks account for their assets.
The move came in response to Phra Buddha Isara, one of the former leaders of the People's Democratic Reform Committee, asking the NRC to draft legislation requiring audits of temples and senior monks.
Monks are classed as state officials because they are paid a government salary and should be subject to legal action if they break the rules, according to Phra Buddha Isara, who handed a letter to NRC chairman Thienchay Kiranandana last week demanding tighter regulation of the clergy be incorporated into the new charter.
Phra Buddha Isara said those monks who become temple abbots should be required to declare their assets with the National Anti-Corruption Commission and the Office of the Auditor-General (OAG).
The activist monk claimed some temples serve as financiers for a certain political party.
Phra Buddha Isara said members of the Sangha Supreme Council and senior monks holding positions ranging from a deputy temple abbot to a regional monk dean should be accountable for their assets.
Led by Phiruedi Phuwananan, the Luangta Maha Bua Yannasampanno group argued in their letter submitted to the NRC that to pass a law that allows the OAG to "interfere" with a monk's assets — which they said are in fact assets donated by disciples, not acquired using the taxpayers' money — is deemed a violation of religious rules.
The group, however, did not clarify in what manner an OAG inspection of a Buddhist monk's assets would constitute interference.