The death of novice Supachai "Pluem" Ekkiarttikul has revealed loopholes in Thailand's monastery supervision that opens opportunities for ill-intentioned people to abuse the finances or even commit crimes.
The body of the 17-year-old novice was found earlier this month in the compound of Wat Wang Tawan Tok, leading to the arrest of a number of people accused of engaging in embezzlement of the temple's finances.
Police believed the suspects killed and buried the young novice because he knew that there was something going on inside the temple where people came to observe religious ceremonies and make donations.
As of press time, the main suspects in the case are former monk Denchai Phumniyom and his girlfriend Piyachat Arunsakul together with a number of associates, who were involved in the management of the temple's finances.
The police further found more than 20 bank accounts relating to the temple worth a combined 10 million baht. An initial investigation also found that Denchai and his associates collected fees from vendors, parking lot and other activities at the temple.
Wat Wang Tawan Tok is a popular temple in Nakhon Si Thammarat province and more than 100 vehicles can be seen parked there on week days. This rises to about 300 on weekends. The parking fee is 30 baht per vehicle, with Denchai and Piyachat managing the money.
These businesses generated at least 15,000 baht cash daily but did not appear on the temple's books. The police thus believe that the attempt to conceal the embezzlement was the motive to murder Novice Supachai.
Unfortunately, the embezzlement at Wat Wang Tawan Tok is not an isolated case. With millions of followers willing to support them, some temples can collect hefty donations while their surrounding areas generate good businesses.
The monks often assign layspersons or subordinates to manage temple finances on their behalf. The large amounts of money circulating each day at a temple are open to abuse, most notably in the case of Novice Kham who led a luxurious lifestyle and Dhammajayo.
The enforcement of financial regulations would help ensure the efficiency in monastic management by creating transparency in clerical governance which is essential to maintaining people's faith in the temple. People should rest assured that their donations are going to support the common good, not be embezzled by corrupt people.
Although the National Office of Buddhism has set regulations for temple finances, the enforcement has been lax so far, leading to the abuse of temple finances as seen in a series of scandals involving Novice Kham, Tiger Temple and Dhammajayo.
The temples often argue that their finances are an internal matter and donations are not subject to scrutiny partly because they are willingly given by worshippers.
Regulations, however, would ensure that the donations serve their purpose -- namely to promote Buddhism.
The National Office of Buddhism requires all temples to report their financial statement, but so far only 180 temples have submitted their financial statements to the National Office of Buddhism.
This shows the temples' reluctance to disclose their finances or their inability to carry out proper accounting procedures.
Meanwhile, the number of temples in Thailand has risen despite the declining number of novices and monks or the period spent in monkhood.
The number of temples rose from 40,717 in 2004 to 43,810 in 2012 or an increase of 344 temples on average per year.
The number of monks and novices, however, runs counter to the rising number of temples. Meanwhile the period that a person spends in monkhood has shortened.
Forty years ago, people would spend at least three months in saffron robes. Now the younger generation tended to spend only seven to 15 days in monkhood.
The challenge for the National Office of Buddhism is how to deal with those monks and novices who could taint the temple, even though they chose to stay in monkhood for a short period of time.
Earlier this month, the family and relatives of the slain novice arrived at the temple to pay their last respects.
Kanya Mintakhok, the mother of Novice Pluem, believes her son might have been murdered because he wanted to expose the irregularities at the temple.
While his family is mourning the death of their noble son, we must not let the novice's death be in vain. Pluem sacrificed his life to protect Buddhism.
He would do not want the authorities to simply arrest his murderers but to end scandalous acts once and for all by good financial supervision of every temple.