Authorities are examining medical equipment found at Wat Phra Dhammakaya in hopes of learning more about the condition of the embattled former abbot Phra Dhammajayo, who continues to elude arrest.
Of particular interest is a hyperbaric chamber, known colloquially as an "iron lung", that officials discovered this week during a search of the sprawling temple complex in Pathum Thani.
(Photo by Pongpat Wongyala)
Department of Special Investigation officials, police and doctors on Saturday morning went to a room in the Daowadung building at the complex to take a closer look at the chamber. Monks there have claimed that the medical equipment was used to treat the 72-year-old former abbot, who has not been seen for about eight months.
The DSI wants to know when the equipment to treat Phra Dhammajayo was last used. An army of reporters was not allowed to get inside the temple grounds.
Phra Dhammajayo is facing arrest on charges of money laundering and receiving stolen assets in connection with the multi-billion-baht embezzlement of the Klongchan Credit Union Co-operative (KCUC). He has ignored several warnings to report to the DSI since the credit union scandal came to light.
The founder of the extraordinarily wealthy Dhammakaya sect is also wanted for alleged forest encroachment by meditation centres.
On Thursday, officials and police searched almost 200 rai of the 2,300-rai temple compound in Klong Luang district. The raid began after Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha issued an order under Section 44 of the interim constitution. However, the search team failed to find the former abbot.
DSI video
