A female disciple has been held for questioning as she admitted to meeting former Wat Samphanthawong assistant abbot Phra Phrom Methee, embroiled in the temple funds embezzlement scandal, in Laos, according to police sources.
The woman, who has been named only "Joom", was caught at the immigration checkpoint at the third Thai-Lao friendship bridge over the Mekong River in Nakhon Phanom on Thursday.
The woman was said to be a stock trader and hold a major stake in a mining company.
Joom said she crossed the border to Laos to meet fugitive former Phra Phrom Methee as both earlier arranged to attend a merit-making ceremony there, one of the police sources at the Crime Suppression Division (CSD) said.
She said she was aware the former monk crossed the river by boat to Laos, where he was received by a Lao woman, named only Jan, according to the source.
Joom said once she learned from the news that the former Phra Phrom Methee was wanted under an arrest warrant and is still on the run, she decided to return to Thailand.
Police believed her statement would be useful in tracking down the former monk and no charges have been levelled against her, the source said. Joom would be treated as a witness in the case.
Police are considering whether to press charges against Jan, the source added.
However, it remains unclear whether Joom had a hand in helping the fugitive monk flee. Another police source in Nakhon Phanom gave a different story.
The source said Joom confessed to helping the monk escape to Laos. She separated from the former monk late in the morning of last Saturday, when others accompanied him further. She said she did not know where the former monk could be hiding now, the source noted.
Police have learned that Joom's husband was allegedly granted a concession to run a gold mining business in the Lao southern province of Salavan. They are looking into any role he may have played in the monk's escape.
The source said Joom, the former Phra Phrom Methee and a driver travelled together in a bronze Toyota Alphard from Bangkok to the North in the middle of last month.
They then headed to the northeastern border province of Nakhon Phanom to meet Jan, who was asked to arrange a leisure trip for the group to the Lao northern province of Xiangkhouang.
The group entered Laos on May 24, the day police raided Wat Sa Ket, Wat Sam Phraya and Wat Samphanthawong, all of which were linked with the scandal, the source noted.
After arriving Laos, Jan learned from the TV news that the former Phra Phrom Methee was fleeing charges in Thailand and that she asked Joom to return to Thailand.
Nakhon Phanom police are reportedly seeking an arrest warrant for the driver who helped the former monk escape, the source added.
Meanwhile, the abbot of Wat Pa Sukontharak in Nakhon Phanom's Renu Nakhon, where the Toyota Alphard was found, has insisted he had done nothing to assist the former Phra Phrom Methee to flee.
Phra Athikan Ponthep Chakwaro said he did not know the fugitive personally, but only met him once in the Lao province of Khammouane during a merit-making ceremony.
He said a layman only asked to park the car there last Tuesday, which was Visakha Bucha Day, when a lot of people came to the temple.
Meanwhile, CSD officers yesterday went to Wat Sa Ket to look for assistant abbot Phra Wisuthi Satsanawithes for questioning about the embezzlement case but did not find him.
Wat Sa Ket assistant abbot Phra Thep Ratanamunee was yesterday appointed the acting abbot. He replaced former Phra Phrom Sitthi while assistant to Wat Sam Phraya's abbot, Phra Thep Wisutthidilok, was made acting abbot.
