A senior abbot accused of using the ID of a man who died at least two decades ago has turned himself in to authorities to answer the charge, asserting that he was, indeed, born a Thai national.
Phra Ratchamuni, abbot of Wat Suan Dok and also monastic chief of Muang district of Chiang Mai, reported to police on Oct 27 to acknowledge a charge of applying for an ID card using false documents, Pol Maj Gen Sarayut Sa-nguanphokhai, chief of the Chiang Mai provincial police, revealed on Monday.
The monk denied any wrongdoing and insisted he is a Thai national, born in a community where the people had failed to register their citizenship, Pol Maj Gen Sarayut said.
According to the monk’s statement given to investigators, he was ordained as a novice when a teenager at Wat Tha Ton in Mae Ai district of Chiang Mai and had remained in the monkhood ever since.
In 1992, a senior monk named Luang Pho Thawal, of Wat Phra Phiren in Bangkok, who had since died, brought him an ID card in the name of Phra Ratchamuni and had requested on his behalf that he be included as as a member of a household, according to the abbot.
Phra Ratchamuni said he had on April 24, 2009 applied routinely for a new ID card at the Mae Ai district office. After questioning, he was allowed to leave.
A scandal brewed around the senior monk and his alleged fake Thai citizenship, making news headlines earlier this month after a complaint was lodged with a Dhamrongdhamma centre.
The complainant accused the abbot of using the ID number of long-deceased Duangdee Wiangdindam.
After an inquiry confirmed that Duangdee died in 1995, an official in Mae Ai district lodged a complaint with police against the senior monk for allegedly applying for an ID card using false documents.
The case triggered a barrage of questions, including who the senior monk is and if he is a Thai national.
The abbot told police he had not disappeared following the scandal, but had remained at Wat Suan Dok.
Pol Col Kamkaeo Suyati, chief of Mae Ai district police station, said investigators had collected DNA samples from the abbot for comparative testing to confirm his identity and claim to citizenship.
More witnesses will be questioned before investigators forward the case to the prosecution and leave it to the court to decide who is to be believed, Pol Col Kamkaeo said. Those to be questioned would include the chief of the district where the abbot had applied for his ID card.
Pol Col Songkrit Ontakhrai, deputy chief of Chiang Mai provincial police, said police had questioned the official. They had obtained a document the monk, who was known as Nimit Yodkham before entering the monkhood, allegedly submitted when seeking to register as a displaced Myanmar person.
He said police have the ID card request form submitted by the senior monk as evidence.
Worasak Phanthong, a senior deputy chief of Mae Ai district, said on Monday the abbot had every right to deny any wrongdoing, but the district office had solid evidence to support the accusation and it had already been handed over to police.
