page_title: Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen
section_title: Withdrawal of appointment (2015–17)
hierarchical_section_title: Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen / History / Withdrawal of appointment (2015–17)
caption_attribution_description: English: Somdet Chuang Varapunno, as of 2016 the acting Sangharaja of the Thai Sangha
context_page_description: Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen is a royal wat located in Phasi Charoen district, Bangkok, at the Chao Phraya River. It is part of the Maha Nikaya fraternity and is the origin of the Dhammakaya tradition. It is a large and popular temple, supported by prosperous community members.
  Wat Paknam was established in 1610, during the Ayutthaya period, and received support from Thai kings until the late nineteenth century. By the beginning of the twentieth century, the temple had become nearly abandoned and had fallen into disrepair. The temple underwent a major revival and became widely known under the leadership of the meditation master Luang Pu Sodh Candasaro, who was abbot there in the first half of the twentieth century. Seven years after Luang Pu's death, Somdet Chuang Varapuñño became the new abbot. Somdet Chuang made international headlines from 2015 onward, when his appointment as Supreme Patriarch was stalled and finally withdrawn, due to reasons generally interpreted as political. This has led to heated debate and protests in Thailand. As part of this process, Somdet Chuang and his assistant were accused of tax fraud.
context_section_description: In June 2015, Paiboon and the remaining National Reform Council submitted a number of proposals to reform the Thai Sangha, including increased control of the bank accounts of Thai temples, increased control on monastic disciplinarians, changing the abbots of all Thai temples every five years, and raising taxes for monks, who had been exempt from taxes. Although Sangha Council spokesperson Phra Suchat did understand the need for more financial control, better accounting required nationwide training of abbots, which the National Office of Buddhism had already planned to organize. Furthermore, the Sangha Council protested that the (then still existent) reform council panel should consult them more in their policy-making, and described the measures as "a possible destruction of Buddhism through indirect means". Phra Suchat further criticized the junta: "Previously, when politicians issued new laws or regulations, they did so to facilitate and honor the Sangha to make Buddhism stable in this country. But currently, politicians order monks around, even though they are not always knowledgeable in these matters." Chao Khun Prasarn intended to organize another protest, but was halted by the Sangha Council, who felt that discussion with the junta was becoming more feasible. It seemed the junta was not pushing for new Sangha legislation after all.
  Meanwhile, Paiboon and Phra Suwit requested the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), sometimes considered the Thai equivalent of the American FBI, to start an investigation in the assets of the Sangha Council's members, including those of Somdet Chuang. In 2016, the DSI formally summoned Somdet Chuang, because of a vintage car no longer in use, kept in a museum at Wat Paknam. Wat Paknam had asked people to donate second-hand belongings with an educative value to the museum in the stupa. However, the car was not properly registered, which DSI believed was to evade taxes. There had been an investigation running since 2013 into the car, offered to the temple's museum, which was one of a series of 6000–7000 cars sold, and over which allegedly no tax had been paid. According to a report of newspaper Matichon, the car under investigation was an eighty-old year car that had been fixed by adding new parts to it, before offering it to the museum. Tharit Pengdit, the then director of the DSI, believed Wat Paknam not to be involved in the purported tax evasion. However, Tharit was fired and replaced after the 2014 coup d'état, and the investigation was re-opened when the National Reform Council pushed the DSI to do so. The tax evasion accusation was another reason for the junta to postpone Somdet Chuang's installment. At the same time, Paiboon argued that the nomination of Somdet Chuang by the Sangha Council had been moot from the start, because it had not been done following correct procedure. The Ombudsman agreed with this, but the Council of State dismissed the case, stating it had been done correctly.
  
  When in July 2016 it became clear that the junta had still not submitted the appointment of the Supreme Patriarch, Chao Khun Prasarn came out to give the junta an ultimatum of seven days, after which he would "consult with his team what to do next". The junta responded by prohibiting any further gatherings, which had been prohibited under martial law anyway. If Chao Khun Prasarn still continued, he would be sued and defrocked, the junta threatened. In November, the prosecutors decided not to charge Somdet Chuang, because he was not involved in the purchase. They charged attendant Luang Phi Pae instead, and another six people who had taken part in importing the vintage car. On 12 January 2017, however, the prosecutor issued a non-prosecution order against Luang Phi Pae, since the DSI had found no evidence of conspiring to evade taxes. The order indicated innocence on the part of Wat Paknam, but followed two days after the withdrawal of Somdet Chuang's nomination as Supreme Patriarch. Paiboon responded that despite the lack of evidence against Somdet Chuang, Somdet Chuang was still not eligibl
caption: Somdet Chuang Varapuñño (left).
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 5D Mark II", "Image ExifOffset": "78", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/320", "EXIF FNumber": "9/2", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "125", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2012:04:06 12:07:14", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "160"}