A disgraced former Phetchabun monk who defrocked after admitting having sex with a male disciple will face a lawsuit over illegal construction of a helicopter-landing pad inside Nam Nao National Park, forestry officials said Tuesday.
Kasem Duangpangmark
Army and forest-protection officers sealed off the helipad near Samyak Forest Monastery in Nam Nao district on Aug 21 after they found the pad encroached on more than one rai of the park land. Kasem Duangpangmark, then known as Phra Kasem Ajinasilo, headed the temple at that time.
Officials arrested lay disciple Thammarat Thawil, 32, for allegedly funding construction of the helipad on Mr Kasem's behalf. The Trat resident defended the monk by claiming he built the pad to enable Mr Kasem travel by air to receive medical treatment.
But the abbot claimed he had nothing to do with the construction. However, Manop Sai-oon-jai, director of Forest Resources Management Office 4 in Phitsanulok, said Tuesday officials recently found Mr Kasem's signature on a purchase contract for the land.
The document confirmed the then-abbot had agreed to buy the property from a man identified as Hin Khamma on Oct 23, 2010 for 1.2 million baht. The area was forest held under Por Bor Tor 5 land-tax payment documents, which meant it could not be sold, he said.
The landing pad also was built without permission from the Department of Civil Aviation, Mr Manop said, claiming his office had asked Nam Nao police to reinvestigate the case and press charges of land encroachment against the controversial ex-monk.
The Samyak Forest Monastery had been registered as monastic living quarters under a project that allows local monks to help authorities preserve and rehabilitate forest areas, he noted. But his office would seek approval from Natural Resources and Environment Minister Gen Dapong Ratanasuwan to revoke its registration.