page_title: Wat Phra Dhammakaya
section_title: Political analysis
hierarchical_section_title: Wat Phra Dhammakaya / Political analysis
caption_attribution_description: English: Monks at Wat Phra Dhammakaya meet with soldiers during article 44 lockdown
context_page_description: Wat Phra Dhammakaya is a Buddhist temple in Khlong Luang District, in the Pathum Thani Province north of Bangkok, Thailand. It was founded in 1970 by the maechi Chandra Khonnokyoong and Luang Por Dhammajayo. It is the best-known and the fastest growing temple of the Dhammakaya Tradition. This tradition, also known as the Dhammakaya meditation tradition, was started by the meditation teacher Luang Pu Sodh Candasaro in the early-20th century. Wat Phra Dhammakaya is one of the temples that emerged from this tradition and is part of the Mahanikaya fraternity. The temple is legally represented by the Dhammakaya Foundation. It aims to adapt its traditional Buddhist values in modern society. It deploys modern technology, marketing methods and interprets Buddhist doctrines in ways that have led to controversy and a government crackdown. The temple plays a leading role in Thai Buddhism with East Asians religion writer Edward Irons describing it as "the face of modern Thai Buddhism".
context_section_description: The junta's actions toward the temple have been the subject of much debate and speculation among news analysts and in Thailand in general. Since the junta's crackdown of the temple the question has been raised as to why the state is so strongly opposed to the temple, with many doubting the extensive efforts as a mere attempt to "enforce the law". It has been pointed out that the problems with Wat Phra Dhammakaya formed a distraction for the more serious issues politicians had to deal with, both in 1999 and during the Klongchan controversy.
  Several political commentators have stated that the actions of the Thai junta towards the temple may have reflected a political need to control who should be selected as the next Supreme Patriarch. The monk who was next in line for the position, Somdet Chuang Varapuñño, had ordained Luang Por Dhammajayo. Selecting Somdet Chuang would have meant a Supreme Patriarch from the Maha Nikaya fraternity, rather than the Dhammayuttika fraternity, which historically had been the preferred choice by the Thai government and the monarchy. In fact, Somdet Chuang had already been nominated by the Sangha Supreme Council, but the appointment was postponed and eventually withdrawn by the Thai Junta, with another candidate from the Dhammayuttika fraternity appointed instead. The several hundred coinciding lawsuits against Wat Phra Dhammakaya and Somdet Chuang's connection to the temple was, in fact, eventually used as a reason by the junta to withdraw his nomination.
  
  In addition, since the period that Thaksin Shinawatra was still in power, Wat Phra Dhammakaya had been associated with Thaksin, and subsequently, his Red Shirt pressure group which opposes the ruling junta. One spokesperson of the temple pointed out that the temple is often seen as a threat during periods of political tension. Indeed, the temple has often been described as the only influential organization in Thailand that has not been subdued by the ruling junta since the 2014 coup d'état. But more material motivations may also have been involved. Critics and scholars have speculated that the junta may be trying to seize the temple and confiscate its famed wealth. In listing the reasons why the junta is opposed to the temple, anthropologist Jim Taylor also notes that the temple has not donated much to the palace.
  Protesters drew comparisons between Somdet Chuang's postponed appointment, and that of Phra Phimontham, a leading monk charged with communist insurgency during the Cold War. The latter was jailed and defrocked, but was later determined to have been innocent all along. Proponents of Wat Phra Dhammakaya referred to Phra Phimontham's case to explain why Luang Por Dhammajayo did not go to acknowledge the charges in 1999, and again in 2016. After Phra Phimontham was released, he entered the monkhood again without re-ordaining, since he never had disrobed officially and voluntarily anyway. Some critics have suggested that Luang Por Dhammajayo should do the same, but some commentators have argued that indictment under the current military junta would be even more dangerous than that of the junta at the time of Phra Phimontham, with no Thai law prohibiting torture of prisoners.
  Despite its many opponents, Wat Phra Dhammakaya is generally seen by pro-democracy Thai intellectuals as a symbol of religious pluralism that has managed to survive. Political scientist Duncan McCargo and other western scholars have posed the question of why conservative Thai scholars have not considered the freedom of religion argument in the case of Wat Phra Dhammakaya. Several Thai scholars have pointed out the increasing entanglement of state and religion in Thailand, as the temple has relied heavily on the Supreme Sangha Council's authority in its activities. Since the Sangha Council is part of the Thai government, critics are afraid the influential temple might take over the state. If state and religion were more separated in Thailand, problems such as with Wat Phra Dhammakaya could be more easily solved by the Sangha and other parts of civil society, without
caption: Junta forces surround Wat Phra Dhammakaya
exif: {}