Wat Phra Dhammakaya is a Buddhist temple, not an independent state

The disinformation campaign which has been directed at Wat Phra Dhammakaya and its ailing Abbot, took a new turn, when some local media claimed that the temple is an untouchable “state within a state”.   This, like many of the ill-informed media claims about Wat Phra Dhammakaya is totally incorrect.

Wat Phra Dhammakaya received its consecrated boundaries on 12 January 1979 (B.E. 2522) and the announcement of this was made in the 96th issue of the Thai Government Gazette, Section 15, on 6 February, 1979.   According to the 1992 Sangha Act (B.E. 2535), Article 31, in order to gain a monastery’s complete status, receipt of consecrated boundaries bestowed by His Majesty the King is a requirement.

There are 33,902 Buddhist temples throughout Thailand, and all of them have gained the monastery’s status upon their receipt of consecrated boundaries bestowed by His Majesty the King.   Wat Phra Dhammakaya has therefore been established correctly, and for the media and individuals to claim otherwise is to show great disrespect to the Supreme Sangha Council.

The continuing onslaught of unsupported claims against Wat Phra Dhammakaya and the abbot, Phrathepyanmahamuni, is clearly an attempt by those who wish to seize control of Thailand’s largest Buddhist temple.   With millions of supporters and a resident population of 3,000 buddhist monks and novices, the devotees of this 46 year old temple will resist any and all illegal actions to discredit Wat Phra Dhammakaya and its seriously ill abbot who has devoted his entire life for the benefit and propagation of Buddhism in Thailand.