From regulating taxi queues at Bangkok airport to promised efforts to register Thailand's immigrant population, the junta has been tightening the screws on many aspects of Thai life since its May 22 coup. And now its time to enter a new realm - Buddhism.
The chief of the National Council for Peace and Order, General Prayuth Chan-ocha, has ordered the Thai office that controls Buddhism and religious affairs to crack down on monks displaying “inappropriate behavior,” claiming their “declining faith has weakened Thai society.”
Following Wednesday's order, the National Office of Buddhism has set up a hotline, where people can report cases of monks behaving badly - 95 percent of Thailand's 67 million population are Buddhist.
The announcement comes in the wake of a string of scandals involving monks. In September, Luang Pu Nenkham posted pictures on his Facebook page showing him flying in his private jet with a Louis Vuitton handbag held tightly in his hands. After a public outcry, the monk was defrocked, his 16 bank accounts holding US$6.1 million siezed.
He was also accused of having fathered a child with an under-age girl. According to Buddhist discipline, monks must abstain from any sexual contact and cannot even touch the hand of a woman.
In another case last May, five monks were defrocked after sexually abusing young boys.
Misdemeanor, however, has not been restricted to financial and sexual deviance.
During the seven months of anti-government demonstrations which led to the May 22 coup, a monk, Luang Pu Buddha Issara, led a particularly violent group of anti-government protesters who beat, tortured and shot at those perceived as opposing their campaign.
Following the coup, the junta detained Buddha Issara for seven days.
The religious authorities, like the National Office of Buddhism or the Sangha (monastic community) council have been traditionally reluctant to crackdown on monks displaying lavish lifestyles, defrocking them only when sexual scandals arise.
Thai monks, who must be male, have to follow a set of 227 rules, but only the breach of the most important ones - sexual abstinence, consumption of drugs and theft or murder - can lead to an exclusion from the order.
There are 270,000 Buddhist monks in Thailand.
www.aa.com.tr/en
