Admitting defeat, the Supreme Sangha Council announced on Jan 8 through its secretariat office that its previous nomination was no longer valid under the new law. Somdet Chuang has close ties with the controversial Dhammakaya temple, believed to enjoy support from fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Much of the clergy's decline in public faith and structural weakness stem from the Sangha Act which gives the Supreme Sangha Council full autocratic control over the 300,000-strong clergy. The Sangha law also gives abbots absolute power over temples, resulting in widespread corruption and abuse of power. True, amending the Sangha Act to allow a more decentralised, inclusive structure is necessary to tackle temple corruption and inefficiency.

Source: Bangkok Post January 18, 2017 21:49 UTC