Captain Atchariya Pangma was a member of the medical team that took care of Phra Dhammachayo a year ago and said the monk was genuinely sick.

The monk has cited his illness as the main reason he has refused to answer summons issued against him after he was charged with alleged money laundering and accepting stolen items.

“Last year, I was part in the medical team that treated Dhammachayo. After that, I didn’t look after him anymore since I offered initial advice on his treatment. I guess he’s currently under the care of the medical team who stayed inside the [Dhammakaya] temple,” Atchariya said.

“At the moment, I’m just an outsider. I don’t know whether there is actually a medical team to give him treatment. Neither do I know his whereabouts now. However, judging from when I treated him for almost a year, he’s really sick in my view. A year on after that, I don’t know his condition, though.”

Atchariya expressed sympathy for Phra Dhammachayo when asked whether the seizure of a large machine widely believed to be used in hyperbaric therapy for the former Dhammakaya abbot would affect his illness.

“That made me feel really sorry for him. I have no idea whether he currently receives proper treatment because no one can enter the temple now. I don’t know where he is. For me, a patient, whether he is a prisoner or whatever, has the right to be treated properly,” he said.

Atchariya also denied a report his appointment as NIEM head was linked to Phra Dhammachayo.

“I have no concern about this because everything I’ve done is professional. I’m a doctor who needs to treat a patient no matter what is his nationality or religion. When I was at Bangkok Hospital, I had to look after an Arab patient. That’s a doctor’s duty,” he said.

“Now, I work in a different role as an executive. I don’t want to get involved if anyone wants to link me with anything. I will not sue them because I think it’s just a misunderstanding. I don’t think it’s an ill-intended act.

“Everyone is entitled to have their own opinion. I just ask them to first look at what I did in the past and then my intention to do things in the future. I would like to let them know that working here [at the NIEM] I earn much less than before by as many as six digits. I decided to come here anyway. That’s because I want to develop the emergency medical system.”