The Department of Corrections is looking to file charges against the administrator of the "Anny Anny Khon Thai Hua Jai Pi Tak Put" (Anny Anny with A Heart to Protect Buddhism) Facebook page, for disseminating fake news.
It says the site posted a report claiming a Muslim official within the department was trying to remove a Buddhist temple in Nakhon Ratchasima and replace it with a prison facility.
The offending content on the Facebook page reads: "Wat Khao Khuean Lan in Nakhon Ratchasima's Sikhiu district is going to be demolished by Islamic authorities. We, Buddhists, must act against them."
"This is blatantly fake news," Department of Corrections director-general, Pol Col Naras Savestanan, said yesterday.
Pol Col Naras said the post could cause a rift between religious communities and pitch Buddhists against the government. The land where Wat Khao Khuean Lan is located originally belonged to Klong Phai Prison, he explained.
The temple had illegally encroached on state property, he said, adding that the Corrections Department had lawfully reclaimed part of the land to build a training facility for correctional officers.
To ensure the temple's survival, the department had already allocated it another 10-rai plot, Pol Col Naras said.