DSI has attempted several times to enter the temple’s compound in Pathum Thani province to locate the temple’s former abbot Phra Dhammachayo who is under arrest warrants for money laundering and possessing stolen items.

A source did not reveal details of the help DSI is seeking from the Sangha Council, saying  the discussion is underway and the results may be known in a few days.

The source said that the the temple’s core leaders have refused to talk to DSI, so the agency thought that it may be better for the temple’s monks to discuss with their own superior; the Sangha Council.

Some members of the Council previously had been believed to have close connection with the controversial temple, the source said, at that time, the country has no the Supreme Patriarch.

However the situation seems to change now that the new Supreme Patriarch is now in office.

Meanwhile National Office of Buddhim has urged the Buddhist monks nationwide not participate in the rally organised by Dhammakaya Temple.

The advise came as the temple has still defied the Article 44 that allows the authorities to search the temple’s premises in locating former abbot of the temple; Phra Dhammachaoyo.

In the interivew that was publshed on November 17, 2015, the radical monk talked about his Ma Ba Tha, extremist Buddhist organisation, on Myanmar’s election day, November 8, 2015, in Mandalay.

Read his view below:

“Monk leader Ashin Wirathu: Myanmar will have stability only under Thein Sein

Ashin Wirathu has every reason to be surprised and disappointed with the November 8 election results. The radical Buddhist monk whose anti-Muslim rhetoric was blamed for a spate of violence against the Muslim minority made no secret of his support for the ruling party, which was crushed in the historic election.

“Myanmar will have stability under President Thein Sein. And only President Thein Sein can control the Muslims in Rakhine,” Wirathu told The Nation in an interview at Masoerein Monastery in Mandalay on the day millions of Myanmar voters queued up to vote. He was referring to the state in western Myanmar where scores of people were killed and thousands displaced in a series of violent clashes.

The soft-spoken monk, who presides over Myanmar’s biggest monastery in the old capital, seems to believe that he and the organisation he founded and leads Ma Ba Tha, have a mission. Ma Ba Tha, which is loosely translated as an “Association for Race and Religion”, has been leading a campaign against what it sees as an attempt by Muslims to take over the country. Wirathu’s fiery speeches were also blamed for inflaming hatred against the religious minority. The organisation is believed to have played an instrumental role in pressuring parliament to pass laws early this year to restrict the rights of Muslims, including a ban on inter-faith marriage. But Wirathu, who has been in monkhood for 28 years, insisted that as a Buddhist he has “passion” for the Muslims and harbours no ill feeling toward Islam.

“What Ma Ba Tha is doing is simply to warn people of danger lurking around them,” he said.

He claimed that Buddhism in Myanmar needs protection. “We need the army to protect the country. And we need Ma Ba Tha to protect our religion,” he said.

He compared the situation Myanmar is facing to a village being invaded by wild elephants. “With wild elephants roaming around, we tell the people to stay inside and lock their doors. We are not telling them to harm the elephants,” he explained.

But, of course, he did not hesitate to say that Muslims now pose the biggest threat to Myanmar despite the fact that they make up less than 5 per cent of the population. He cited multiple marriages by Muslim men and how Buddhist women are forced to convert to Islam after marrying them. The 48-year-old radical monk even sees attempts by Muslim Rohingyas to set up an Islamic state in Rakhine.

That’s why in his view Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for Democracy, shouldn’t come to power. “If NLD wins the election, Suu Kyi will not be able to control Rakhine. She has made promises for more rights for Muslims,” he said.

While admitting that monks still wield influence over the largely-Buddhist Myanmar population, Wirathu insisted that he and Ma Ba Tha did not take sides in the election. “We only show people the right path. We want people to do the right things,” he said.

Of course, there is no doubt that the “right path” that he was referring to was for Myanmar voters to stick to the powers-that-be. He tried to emphasise that his endorsement was specifically for Thein Sein and not the United Solidarity and Development Party he leads.

“There are people in Myanmar who are thirsty for change. But change at this juncture is too dangerous. It’s like walking on a tight rope. Nobody knows what will happen. We could end up like Egypt, ” he said. Though he did not mention Suu Kyi by name, it was clear that he was referring to her message of change that inspired large segments of Myanmar society that were fed up with more than half a century of military rule.

Wirathu also has a warning against any attempts to amend the constitution – something that Suu Kyi has vowed to do. He claimed that amending the constitution would create serious conflict. “We could end up with a conflict similar to the clash between the yellow shirts and red shirts in Thailand,” he said.

But it’s obvious that the Myanmar people have made their choice. Even the holy monks who would normally hold sway over how they think and behave could not stop their thirst for change.”

In the last years of the 19th century, Siam, as Thailand was then called, was in a precarious position. The British colonizers already occupied India and Burma, and the French made forays into the Indochina peninsula.

The Franco-Siamese War of 1893 led to Siam ceding Laos to the France, and literally turning into a buffer state between the British and the French.

It looked like only a matter of time before the country would be ruled by a colonial power, but Siam had one trump card – the personal friendship cultivated between King Chulalongkorn and Tsar Nicholas II.

“The welcoming attitudes of Tsar Nicholas II, to a great extent, influenced the Siamese diplomatic strategy in dealing with European expansion,” Natanaree Posrithong wrote in an academic publication titled ‘The Russo-Siamese Relations: The Reign of King Chulalongkorn.’

In 1897, King Chulalongkorn was treated like an honored guest of the Russian Tsar in St. Petersburg. The countries then officially established diplomatic relations.

When Nicholas II thought of sending an illustrious diplomat to the kingdom, his first choice was Alexander Olarovsky, who was appointed as the Charge d’Affaires and Consul-General of Russia to Siam.

A seasoned diplomat, Olarovsky had served in the Russian missions in San Francisco and New York.

“This appointment of to the first Russian Consul in Bangkok aims to institute a firm diplomatic relationship between the two nations besides our brotherhood and our great friendship that have already been established,” Nicholas II said in 1897.

“Olarovsky wrote to the Tsar that the King had granted the best building in Bangkok, close to the Grand Palace, to set up the first Russian Consulate,” Posrithong wrote. At the opening ceremony, more than 300 people were present, including a large number of European diplomats.

The Russian diplomat’s role was far from ceremonial.

“The confidential report from the Russian Foreign Ministry to Olarovsky, dated the day he was appointed as Consul-General in Bangkok, demonstrates a significant evidence of Russia’s concerns over Siam’s situation,” Posrithong wrote.

“The report meant to prepare Olarovski to understand the root of the Siamese-Franco-Briton conflict and to confirm the main objectives of his new task as the first Consul-General in Bangkok.”

Despite an agreement between Britain and France to respect Siam’s borders, both countries showed little intention of honoring it, with the British expanding to the Malay Peninsula and the French occupying Cambodia.

“Siam was sandwiched between these two powers and Russian influence was crucial to stop them,” Thunjira Wattaporn, a researcher based in Chiang Mai told RBTH.

“The Russians had some say with the French since there was a Franco-Russian alliance, but the British, who were involved in the ‘Great Game’ with Russia in Afghanistan, were seen as a serious threat by Olarovsky.”

She added that Russia was also fearful of Siam falling under Britain’s orbit since many Thai officials were educated in the country and admired the values they saw in the country.

The Russian diplomat was tasked with opposing “the expansion of Britain in Indochina by diplomatic means,” Posrithong wrote. “In addition, Nicholas II hoped that Olarovsky would serve as the mediator to compromise and balance the power between France and Britain, while helping Siam maintain its sovereignty.”

The Russian nurse who became a Thai duchess

Olarovsky worked tirelessly as the Tsar’s envoy in Siam to protect the kingdom of Nicholas II’s friend. He used his good offices with the French to convince them to return Chantabhuri to Siam. The province, bordering Cambodia, was under French control since the Franco-Siamese War.

“Without Olarovsky, the Franco-Siamese relationship might have had died completely after 1893,” Posrithong wrote. “In contrast, within four years, there was a slight sign of peace between the two nations, mostly through the effort of the Russian Consul-General.”

Olarovsky’s efforts, though largely successful in protecting the Chakri Dynasty, could not yield to lasting peace between France and Siam.

Russia’s humiliating loss to Japan in the 1904-5 war and a fear of Japanese expansion to Indochina led Moscow to eventually soften its approach towards its French allies.

“Olarovsky’s diplomatic maneuvers definitely helped keep the British out,” says Wattaporn. “He even worked with British counterparts in Bangkok and along with them, help found the Royal Bangkok Sports Club.”

Olarovsky shared a passion for horses with the British and was the first person in Thailand to breed racehorses.

The British Empire did not cross the Burma-Siam border until World War II, when the kingdom was under Japanese occupation.

Russia managed to maintain its warm ties with Siam until the revolutions of 1917, when Bangkok like all other allies of the Russian Royal Family refused to recognize the Bolsheviks.