Thailand’s new Monk Misconduct Complaint Centre receives 69 complaints
69 complaints have been filed with Thailand’s new Monk Misconduct Complaint Centre, which investigates clergy misdeeds. The centre aims to separate individual misconduct from the institution as a whole.
Pol General Kitrat Phanphet, Commissioner-General of the Royal Thai Police (RTP), revealed on Thursday that the newly established Monk Misconduct Complaint Centre has already received 69 complaints. This initiative is a collaborative effort between multiple agencies, including the RTP, the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO), the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC), and the National Office of Buddhism (NOB).
Kitrat said this ad-hoc centre has been set up under the leadership of the Central Investigation Bureau, though in the future, it is expected to be integrated into the RTP. The responsibility for investigating and addressing complaints is divided: The NOB will investigate monks who fail to comply with religious regulations, while the police will handle criminal cases.
Kitrat emphasised that this centre is not meant to generalise misconduct across the entire Buddhist institution, but rather to treat it as individual cases. Regarding the issue of asset declarations for temples, the NACC will decide whether to enforce mandatory disclosures, he added.
The police chief highlighted that the creation of this centre was necessary due to the increasing number of monks and monastic institutions involved in breaches of both religious and criminal laws across the country. As a result, collaboration between all relevant agencies was deemed essential.
To date, 69 complaints have been received, though the police have not disclosed specific details of the complaints. Kitrat further warned about the potential for malicious complaints or false information being used to damage reputations, adding that anyone found making false accusations would face legal action.
When questioned about why police had not previously taken action against officials at the NOB for their negligence or dereliction of duty, despite clear evidence of wrongdoing, Kitrat responded that there was insufficient evidence to proceed. He confirmed that the police and the NOB had not been at fault, but that there were individual monks—out of the 300,000 in the country—who had acted inappropriately. He urged the public not to generalise the actions of a few to the entire religion.
