PATHUM THANI - Department of Special Investigation (DSI) officials found 12 monks staying in temporary accommodation on a fenced-off block of land behind Wat Phra Dhammakaya in tambon Khlong Si of Khlong Luang district on Monday morning.
Officials check monks staying outside Wat Phra Dhammakaya on Monday. (Video by Apichit Jinakul)
The search of the 55-rai block followed reports from local residents of suspicious activity.
Accompanied by soldiers, the DSI officials began a search about 7am. Inside, they found an open, roofed shelter made of sheets of corrugated iron.
There was an open shipping container, a washing machine and a toilet. Twelve monks were staying there, sleeping in small mosquito-netting tents.
The monks said they came from Chiang Rai province to take part in a project at Wat Phra Dhammakaya. When asked to show their monk certificates, they said they had been ordained for only 10 days and no documents had yet been issued to them.
The DSI officials made a list of their names from their ID cards for the National Office of Buddhism to further check.
On Monday morning, a group of monks and disciples continued to sit and pray near in an area near Khlong Luang market.
Inside Wat Phra Dhammakaya temple, a five-metre long vinyl banner with a message written in English, "We need food", could be seen attached to a tower in Zone B near the Bang Khan - Nong Sua Road in tambon Khlong Sam.
