PHATTALUNG: Wat Na Tom temple, hitherto a landmark of the trustworthy in Phattalung’s Muang District, last week spawned a type of scandals which, after hitting newsstands, has elicited sighs and maybe uncharitable tittering. In this case, risk of the latter is high: some 70 full-color photos assist allegations by unidentified local people who the abbot of Wat Na Tom not only engaged regularly in fornication, however had as lovers two canine and three women. Senior monks from the provincial Buddhist Governing Board, its Muang district counterpart, and Phattalung’s Office of the Buddhist Religion, after analyzing the photos, introduced they were real and enjoined the press to “beware of publishing them and casting Buddhism in a bad gentle,” which is a felony matter beneath Thai legislation. The chief of Thailand’s Mental Health Department also warned towards publication of the photos, saying they have been evidence of psychological sickness and could have evil effects on youngsters incapable of decoding them correctly. The admonitions came too late, however, as two of the pictures had already been published in a mass-circulation every day. The whereabouts of Wat Na Tom’s abbot were not reported; senior clergy urged him to resign instantly from the monkhood. The erring abbot was apparently caught utterly unawares by villagers who climbed as much as the roof to spy on him and photograph his lurid activities. The story surfaced on the morning of June 21, when unidentified local persons contacted reporters with pictures exhibiting one of the province’s finest known and most respected monks in flagrante delicto. “People living across the temple have been conscious of his activities for months,” reporters learned, “but they lacked evidence with which to remove his toxic influence…Two or three women had been sneaking in at night time to sleep with him, prompting local folks to climb up and spy by way of a crack. “They found that on nights when no girls got here to sleep with him, he had intercourse with the canine.” “Were the images unclear or concocted, proof would be inadequate for an arrest,” Deputy Provincial Chief Abbot Pra Kru Methi Ratanakorn was quoted as saying. “But here they are unmistakable.” “It is certainly him,” mentioned provincial Buddhist Office Director Koonapoongs Taharn-Thai. “He is quite well-known; villagers in the space have all the time accorded him a excessive diploma of respect. We’ve lengthy had dealings on a regular basis; but I never may have guessed such evil would possibly have an effect on a Phattalung monk!” Sneak peek ordered detectives to track down and arrest the abbot, recognized as Phra Kru Sopit Tamapimol (phra kru denotes a senior teaching monk; the the rest of the title means “Beautiful Enlightenment comes undefiled”). The suspect is described as aged about sixty one years, having joined the monkhood in 1957. He grew to become abbot in 1994, and was commissioned phra kru in 2005; until fleeing he additionally operated a faculty educating Buddhism on Sundays. One “fluffy-haired” white dog, and one black dog, each females, were discovered loc