Authorities say the large-scale blockade is needed to facilitate a peaceful search of the sprawling temple complex, which covers more than 2,100 rai in Pathum Thani. Last year, attempts by the police and Department of Special Investigation (DSI) to gain entry failed due to strong resistance from the temple’s followers.

The authorities are searching for the wealthy temple’s former abbot Phra Dhammachayo, who is wanted on money-laundering charges arising from an embezzlement case. A follower of Phra Dhammachayo, former Klongchan Credit Union Cooperative chairman Supachai Srisupa-aksorn, is serving a 16-year jail term for embezzling billions of baht from the cooperative. Before his arrest, Supachai donated over Bt900 million to the then-abbot.

In November, public prosecutors indicted the 72-year-old charismatic monk plus Supachai and three other suspects on charges of money laundering, conspiracy to launder money, and receiving stolen assets. Dhammachayo is the only suspect who has not yet turned himself over to police.

The senior monk had been beset by religious controversy, accused of distorting the original teachings of Lord Buddha and deceiving followers into donating large amounts of money in return for promises of better lives. However, those allegations did little to dent the sect’s appeal, with the congregation still swelling and donations continuing to pour in.

Authorities then discovered evidence linking Dhammachayo to the embezzlement case, prompting repeated attempts to arrest the monk.

The ramifications extend far beyond one monk, however. A popular perception is that if Dhammachayo flees his stronghold, the faith inspired by his religious empire could collapse.

The latest attempt at his arrest is the most decisive and forceful so far. This time around, the authorities are acting on the orders of Premier Prayut Chan-o-cha, who has invoked the overriding powers available to him as junta chief under Article 44 of the post-coup interim charter.

This latest temple raid appears aimed at verifying Dhammachayo is no longer in residence – and that he won’t come back anytime soon.

However, the ongoing operation has prompted many to question the legitimacy of sending thousands of police and military officers to hunt for a monk who has, after all, been accused of gross misdemeanours rather than serious crimes.

The raid also appears to be violating the rights of others, including monks, laypeople and food vendors, who have complained of being barred entry to the temple.

Of course, the authorities do have legal authority to hunt for the wanted monk. But using dubious means to achieve their goal is making an already tense situation worse, as signalled by rising opposition from the temple’s monks and followers.

It is the authorities that stand to lose out by choosing questionable methods to deal with this matter. With the whole country watching, their legitimacy is at risk.

Friday, February 24, 2017

Bangkok : The power outage areas are;

08.30 – 12.00

– Soi Saimai 7.

08.30 – 13.00

– Terdtai Road, Start from the beginning of Soi Wat Rangbua to Soi Terdtai 68/1.

Saturday, February 25, 2017

Bangkok : The power outage areas are;

08.00 – 15.30

– Praditmanutham Road, Start from Pracha Uthit Intersection to Klong Wat Tuek.

– Along Petchkasem Road, Start from Klong Ratchamontri, Bangkae Market to the beginning of Bangkae Road.

08.30 – 15.30

– Terdtai Road, Start from the beginning of Soi Terdtai 59 to Klong Nokkrajok.

– Wuttakat Road (Even number side), Start from Mali Thong Market to Kalapapruk Road.

– Mitmaitri Road, Start from Klong Lamrang Wi Nuad to Soi Mitmaitri 2.

– Soi Pungmee 28, 30 (Throughout the Soi).

08.30 – 16.30

– Rama 9 Road (Inbound), Start from Ramkhamhaeng Intersection to Praditmanutham Intersection.

– Rama 9 Road, Start from Rama 9 Plaza to the area nearby Gateway.

– Rama 9 Road (Inbound), the community along canal, the bridge nearby Klong Sansab.

09.00 – 15.00

– Soi Ladprao 115, Blackout at the beginning of Soi.

09.00 – 15.30

– Soi Huamark 7 (Throughout the Soi) and the beginning of Soi.

– Soi Ramkhamhaeng 24 Intersection 34 (Throughout the Soi).

– Soi Sukhumvit 39, Intersection at Soi Promsak (Throughout the Soi).

11.00 – 15.30

– Nawamin Road, Start from the beginning of Soi Nawamin 159 to Soi Nawamin 161.

Samutprakarn : The power outage areas are;

08.30 – 15.00

– Luang Phang Road, the beginning of Soi Preng School.

Sunday, February 26, 2017

Bangkok : The power outage areas are;

08.00 – 14.00

– Ladya Road, Start from Six Gate to Soi Ladya 6 and Soi Wisetsan.

08.00 – 15.30

– Praditmanutham Road, Start from the beginning of Soi Praditmanutham 21 to Esso Gas Station.

– Soi Nawamin 163, Start from the beginning of Soi Nawamin 163 Intersection 17 to Wat Boonsri Muni Korn.

– Soi Borromratchonnani 97, Sarantip Village (Throughout the Soi).

08.30 – 12.00

– Ekachai Road, Soi Ekachai 74.

08.30 – 15.30

– Ekachai Road, Soi Ekachai 34 Intersection 9 and Intersection 11.

– Ekachai Road, Soi Office of The Attorney General.

– Along Phahonyothin Road (Inbound), Start from the area next to Central General Hospital to Soi Phahonyothin 46/2.

– Suwinthawong Road, Patsorn 10 Village and Redicon Factory.

08.30 – 16.30

– Rama 9 Soi 26, Start from the beginning of Soi to the left curve in front of A One Hotel.

– Chara Ville Building, A One Hotel.

09.00 – 15.00

– Soi Chokchai 4 – 61 (Throughout the Soi).

– Nuanchan Road, Soi Beach Gallery Village (Throughout the Soi).

– Soi Ladprao124 (Blackout at the end of Soi).

09.00 – 15.30

– Soi Ramkhamhaeng 21, Start from the beginning of Soi to the bridge cross Klong Sansab.

– The road in Soi Sukhumvit 101/1 (Nearby the beginning of Soi Wachiratham Sathit 3).

12.00 – 15.30

– Kanchanapisek Road, MOTTO Village (Railway).

Samutprakarn : The power outage areas are;

08.30 – 15.30

– Soi Saeng Yai, Straight Way separate from Soi Thanasit.

In case of any enquiries, power users can contact MEA district offices on the phone number listed on the back of their invoice or call MEA at 1130 for 24 hours service. Also, they can check out the latest power outage notification at http://www.mea.or.th

The permanent secretaries on the council will come from just the Culture Ministry and the Prime Minister’s Office. The two vacant seats will be filled by representatives from independent agencies – the National Human Rights Commission and the Consumer Protection Board.

Media outlets, however, remained unsatisfied with the changes.

Thepchai Yong, president of the Confederation of Thai Journalists, said yesterday that regardless of the number of state officials on the council, the intention remained clear – the new body was an attempt to control the media.

“These mechanisms are unprecedented,” the veteran journalist said. “Plus, once the council has such authority, interest groups will come about and intervene.”

The permanent secretaries that would sit on the panel were usually appointed by politicians, Thepchai noted. And not all “media representatives” could be trusted, because anyone could establish an organisation and send representatives to sit on the council, he said.

Thepchai said the law should be reviewed because it was not in line with the government’s promise to return the country to democracy. So, the media would continue to oppose the regulatory bill, he said.

“We will meet with the National Legislative Assembly and the government,” Thepchai said. “We will put more effort [to oppose this] because this could have great impact on society and public participation.”

The media committee chairman ACM Kanit Suwannet insisted on maintaining state representatives on the council to ensure balance.

The professional council, therefore, will have 13 members in total. Five will be representatives from the media, two from the state, two from the independent agencies, and the four others would be experts from related fields.

The reduction of state officials to two should be sufficient to show sincerity and prove that the state had no intention to interfere with media affairs, he said.

The media reform panel would also oversee media licences despite protests about this.

Kanit said the council’s authority to issue or revoke press licences would remain. After the law came into effect, all media professionals, including those operating on online platforms, must obtain a licence, he said.

The law would be finalised this month and be presented to the NRSA’s whip early next month, before proceeding to an NRSA meeting.

Weerawit said the panel was preparing to conclude its initial findings and would submit its report to NLA President Pornpetch Wichitcholchai by next week.

He said the panel had received information concerning the case from the US Department of Justice and found some correlations with the NLA’s existing information.

The correlations included the timing when the procurement took place, the companies involved and the procurement procedures. The similar details suggested that corruption could have taken place, Weerawit said.

The panel has also found that foreigners at the subsidiary of the company that won the bid held company shares of more than 49 per cent, which exceeds the limit set by Thai law.

The bidding price was also found to be slightly lower than the standard price, set at Bt30.7 million, which suggested irregularities in the bidding process, Weerawit said.

He said the company’s subsidiary changed names twice when participating in procurements at Parliament House in 2001 and 2006.

The CCTV installation project involved at least 32 CCTV cameras broadcasting meetings by committees at the convention hall, as well as to a room of speakers and their deputies so that they could get updates from meetings, Weerawit said.

However, the cameras as well as other equipment were hardly used as the committees rarely broadcast their meetings, meaning the objective of the camera procurement failed, Weerawit added.

The panel will invite the company’s representatives to give testimony again after they failed to show up along with independent agencies, including the National Anti-Corruption Commission, he said.

“The amendments have nothing to do with governance, rights, freedoms, nor politics. That’s all I can say. Please wait for the royal endorsement,” Prayut said at his weekly news briefing

The move was first revealed by Deputy Premier Wissanu Krea-ngam last Saturday before he officially informed the Cabinet yesterday.

The post-coup Interim Charter stipulates that royal endorsement should take 90 days.

The charter draft was endorsed in a referendum last August and submitted for royal endorsement in early November. HM the King’s observations were then made and delivered via Privy Council members to the government.

Wissanu said last month the changes would cover Articles 5, 17 and 182 and possibly other related Articles in the charter draft.

Article 5 deals with handling a crisis via new mechanisms when no provision in the charter is applicable.

Article 17 addresses the authority exercised by the Privy Council to propose a candidate to be Regent to the Parliament when the King does not appoint a Regent while he is not present in the country.

Article 182 says that all laws and royal commands need to be countersigned by a minister.

Following the King’s observations, a special legal committee was appointed by the government to work on the amendments.

The Interim Charter was amended to allow the PM to reacquire the draft charter. It was also amended to allow the King discretion in regard to the designation of a regent.

Wissanu said yesterday that details of the amendments would be revealed to the public but he did not say when.

“There are a few articles that were amended. I insist that they have nothing to do with rights, freedom, political parties or any politicians. That’s all I can say for now,” he said.

Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday said he would not cancel the order issued last week under the interim charter’s all-powerful Article 44 to declare the temple as an “area under control” until the former abbot gives himself up. “I confirm that I won’t cancel the order because this case is not yet at an end and the alleged wrongdoer hasn’t yet been brought to face prosecution. This place will be a controlled area until Phra Dhammachayo surrenders to enable his prosecution,” he said.

“Do not say I will seize gold statues, because we don’t know where things are and whether there are gold statues as claimed. How is it possible to make real gold statues when the Klongchan Credit Union Cooperative (KCUC) was broke? Think, you will know the answer to that,” he added, apparently referring to the temple’s alleged links to corruption.

Phra Dhammachayo is wanted on money-laundering and receiving ill-gotten gains charges linked to the KCUC embezzlement case as well as three separate forest encroachment cases.

Deputy Prime Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan said the junta’s order did not have a specific timetable, so officers did not need to apply for another warrant after the existing one expires.

“We can’t let [the temple] do anything at will, officers must be able to go in for however long it takes. We confirm officers will be unarmed to avoid clashes,” he said.

Army commander-in-chief General Chalermchai Sittisat yesterday urged officers to control their emotions when going into the temple to prevent clashes.

“It’s not an enemy military base. We’re all Thais, so officers should focus on enforcing the law and take their time rather than shedding blood,” he said. He was responding to a scuffle on Monday that led to five injuries near the temple’s gates 5 and 6. The National Institute for Emergency Medicine stated that three officers and two temple disciples sustained bruises and scratches in Monday’s scuffle.

Chalermchai said officers were enforcing the law with some difficulty due to the temple’s massive compound and the large number of supporters inside.

“What I am most worried about is confrontation. Officers must be very careful, patient and keep their emotions in check while proceeding with their duties or else it could lead to clashes,” he said. He added that 14 monks’ who failed to present themselves to the DSI by Sunday evening in line with a junta order would not suffer consequences as authorities were keeping in mind that everyone involved was a Thai compatriot.

“It might take some time. After monks and disciples in the compound pray and meditate to attain wisdom about all the facts, then this issue should be resolved,” he said.

Chalermchai added that officers would continue to screen people coming into the temple to prevent ill-intentioned third parties from entering and to screen non-residents.

As of 2pm yesterday, national police chief Pol General Chakthip Chaijinda said authorities were still waiting for approval for a search of the temple’s A and B zones.

DSI spokesman Pol Colonel Woranan Srilam said officers were still negotiating about another search of the compound.

Officers were yesterday checking the documents of individuals who presented “permits to enter the temple” issued by Klong Luang Police Station. Woranan said anyone attempting to enter temple without approval would face prosecution.

On Monday night, spikes and nails were placed under the wheels of 20 cars belonging to border-patrol police and members of the media members who were parked near the temple’s gates 5 and 6. The tyres of several cars were punctured.