Abbot’s dramatic fall from grace

Faith built his empire. Fraud destroyed it. Luang Por Alongkot's fall from grace leaves Thai Buddhism reeling, demanding long-overdue reform.

- Sanitsuda Ekachai

This was not just another monk scandal. Not another abbot caught with a mistress or hidden wealth. This is the country’s largest temple fraud, the greatest betrayal of public trust by the most popular monk of the past 30 years.

The fall of the former abbot of Wat Phrabat Namphu in Lop Buri has not only revealed a crisis of faith in Thai Buddhism, but has brought the issues of identity theft and impersonation to the forefront.

The monk and his aides were arrested last week and charged with embezzlement and money laundering. He has now left the monkhood to focus on the case against him. Before these events unfolded, he had been praised for turning the temple into a hospice for terminally ill HIV/Aids patients.

Most Thais know his name. His face appears on donation boxes for Aids patients nationwide. His name was synonymous with Wat Phrabat Namphu, the hospice he founded in the 1990s when Aids carried both stigma and a death sentence.

His gentle demeanour, soft voice and ever-present smile and his photos beside the dying made him the face of compassion. In a wheelchair, he tirelessly sought donations in alms-giving events whenever he declared the hospice in crisis. People saw a saint.

Finally, the halo has cracked.

The saviour of the sick and dying turned out to be a fraud, not only for siphoning donations into a financial empire but also for stealing another man’s identity to reinvent himself.

CRACKS IN THE FACADE

Thai Buddhism has long been battered by scandal. Just months ago, the abbot of the famous Wat Rai Khing was disrobed for embezzlement and sexual misconduct. Soon after, 13 senior monks were exposed in a sex scandal with the same woman.

This pales in comparison with the Phra Alongkot scandal. It cuts deeper because of his unique standing. No other monk in the past 30 years commanded such wide public respect. If even he could betray faith, who is left to believe in?