History of Wat Phra Dhammakaya

During the period of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, however, the temple was subject to widespread criticism for its fundraising methods and teachings, Luang Por Dhammajayo was eventually charged with embezzlement and removed from his office as abbot.

In Wat Phra Dhammakaya's biographies, it is told that Phadet often held public demonstrations of black magic (คาถา, ไสยศาสตร์) to his fellow students in his years at Kasetsart University.

[52][45][53] The temple gained great popularity during the 1980s (during the Asian economic boom), especially among the growing well-educated and entrepreneurial middle class, mostly small-business owners and technocrats of Sino-Thai origin.

[54] Wat Phra Dhammakaya emphasized values of prosperity, modernity and personal development, which made it attractive for the middle class,[3] especially during times of quick cultural and social changes.

[64] In 1995, Wat Phra Dhammakaya caught the nation's attention when a Magha Puja celebration was broadcast live on television, with the then Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn as chairman of the ceremony.

Attempts were made to involve the devotees of the temple through different stages of construction, through organizing meditations around the Cetiya, and holding ceremonies, in which people were given hammers to symbolically hit a foundation pile into the ground.

Critics believed that Wat Phra Dhammakaya, and Thai Buddhism in general, had become too much of a commercial enterprise (พุทธพาณิชย์) and had grown corrupt; practitioners and temple devotees argued tradition was being followed.

[116][117][118] Under pressure of public outcry and critics, January 1999 the Sangha Supreme Council started an investigation in the accusations, led by Luang Por Ñanavaro [th], Chief of the Greater Bangkok Region.

But when the Ministry of Education decided to no longer wait on the Sangha Council's investigations, and pressed charges on Wat Phra Dhammakaya, the temple responded by suing for malicious prosecution.

In May 1999, monastic chiefs of regions [th] nationwide sent a letter to the Prime Minister to help protect Buddhism and pressure media to use more polite language and show more respect for judicial processes.

December 1999, Wat Phra Dhammakaya sued the newspapers Matichon, Siam Rath, Khao Sod, Daily News and the television station ITV.

[163][164] In 2001 and 2003, ITV, Siam Rath,[165] and Matichon[166][167] were found guilty of slander and forced by verdict to issue a public apology in their newspapers,[168][169][note 4] admitting to publishing distorted information about Luang Por Dhammajayo trading in stock, transferring money to mistresses, and other accusations.

[83][188] Nationwide people were encouraged to quit drinking and smoking through a campaign called The Lao Phao Buri (เทเหล้าเผาบุหรี่, literally: 'throw away alcohol and burn cigarettes'), cooperating with other religious traditions.

He stated that Luang Por Dhammajayo had moved all the land to the name of the temple, that he had corrected his teachings according to the Tipitaka, and that continuing the case might create division in society,[note 6] and would not be conducive to public benefit.

[251][252] In 2010, Wat Phra Dhammakaya started the Dhammachai Tipitaka Project, providing facilities for scholars worldwide to work together collecting ancient manuscripts, mostly from Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand, to make a critical edition of the Pali Canon, the Theravada Buddhist scriptures.

[276] This was done through a procession by over a thousand monks through the areas of Central Thailand that were flooded before, while life-size images of Luang Pu Sodh were ceremonially brought to install in pilgrimage places.

[287] In 2010, during the Red Shirt protests, in an attempt to keep control of any initiatives opposing the junta, a number of monastic and academic organizations and people, including Luang Por Dhammajayo, were put on a surveillance list by the Thai military.

[217][313][314] Moreover, several Thai intellectuals and news analysts stated that Paiboon, Phra Suwit and Mano were abusing the Vinaya (monastic discipline) for political ends, and did not really aim to "purify" Buddhism.

The problem had begun in April 2013, when it turned out that Supachai had borrowed too much money from the credit union for it to manage, and it had to freeze fifty thousand accounts, as well as postpone the payments to seventy-four creditors.

[227][327][328] In 2015, in a written agreement with the credit union, supporters of the temple had raised 684 million baht linked to Wat Phra Dhammakaya to donate to the KCUC to compensate their members.

[337][341][342]In the meantime, news analysts, lawyers, current and former government officials of the Thai justice system, such as Seripisut Temiyavet,[343][344] came out to state that the DSI was not handling the investigation of the temple with proper legal procedure.

[225] In reflection, news analysts concluded that the DSI did not really have the intention to arrest Luang Por Dhammajayo, but was simply surveying the temple grounds, or "playing political theatre" (Otago Daily Times).

When it turned out that the prosecutors were slow to continue the Klongchan lawsuit with regard to Luang Por Dhammajayo, the DSI and several other police departments started to press charges against other people related to the temple.

[369][370] On 21 November, this finally led to another two arrest warrants, totaling three, and plans were made by the Thai police and the DSI to take Luang Por Dhammajayo into custody, through force if required.

[373][374][375] News analysts speculated that Thai law enforcement had not been able to arrest the abbot successfully, because of the complexity of the temple's terrain, the large number of practitioners, who continually adjusted their methods, and the imminent danger of a violent clash.

[382][383][384] While law enforcement was under growing pressure to get the job done, criticism against the operation grew as well, news reporters comparing the temple with Falun Gong in China or the Gulen Movement from Turkey.

[388][389] In February 2017, four days after the appointment of the new Supreme Patriarch with no connections to the temple, junta leader Prayuth announced a special decree following the controversial Section 44 of the interim constitution.

[423][424][425] A few days before the lockdown was brought to a halt, it was announced in the Royal Thai Government Gazette that Luang Por Dhammajayo had his honorific title Phrathepyanmahamuni removed, because of the accusations he was charged with.

Writing for the liberal outlet Lok Wannee, a regular columnist argued that the response of government was similar to the aggressive anti-communist sentiment preceding the Thammasat University massacre on 6 October 1976.

Just days after the end of the lockdown, additional charges were filed against people of Wat Phra Dhammakaya, this time also against the deputy abbot, Luang Por Dattajivo, for allegedly using the Klongchan Credit Union money to buy stocks and illegal land,[432] something the temple dubbed "fake news".