Frequent visitors to Wat Sam Phraya and disciples of former abbot Phra Phrom Dilok still believe in the innocence of the former abbot even though he has been charged with temple fund embezzlement.
The former monk is being detained at Bangkok Remand Prison. He is among seven former senior monks implicated after an investigation into the misuse of temple funds led to raids by Crime Suppression Division (CSD) police on Wat Sam Phraya, Wat Sa Ket and Wat Samphanthawong on May 24.
Several days after the Wat Sam Phraya raid, the Bangkok Post visited and found the ambience of the temple in Phra Nakhon district was calm and serene.
Even at the construction site of one of the new buildings in the temple's precinct, the workers seemed preternaturally relaxed as they went about their duties.
One or two monks and novice monks could also be seen idly milling around the area.
In another area of the grounds, six women and one man had gathered inside the temple's kitchen to prepare lunch for the novices who were preparing to participate in study sessions held at the temple's Buddhism school.
The Post talked to a group of the women, asking them whether they had heard about the alleged involvement of the former abbot in the widely-reported scandal.
They all said that they had heard the news but didn't know the whole story as they hadn't been following events in the media.
"I didn't really pay attention. I come here to make merit by preparing lunch for the monks,'' said Ms Narissara Hengcharoen, owner of a noodle restaurant in Bang Na district, who was busy preparing a meal for the teachers and students.
"I don't even know what happened. We come here because the monks and novice monks still need to eat," chimed in one of Ms Narissara's friends who was also there to help in the kitchen.
Ms Narissara said that having had spent her childhood in the community next to the temple, she believes the abbot is a good person and she still loves and respects him.
Attesting to the innocence of the abbot, she said: "He probably didn't do such thing. It's just not possible.''
Ms Narissara said he was a kind and compassionate person. She did, however, also say that whatever the result of the police investigation, her faith would be unaffected.
"Even if the accusation was proved to be true, we come here for the temple, not for any individual,'' she said.
COOKING UP A STORM: Far left, Devotees prepare food to be offered to monks at Wat Sam Phraya. Many visitors to the temple say they believe the former abbot, Phra Phrom Dilok, is innocent of the temple fund embezzlement charge against him.
Her sister Wanwisa Hengcharoen, who still lives in a house next to the temple, said over the sound of clanking kitchenware that she too didn't pay much attention to what happened.
Like her sister, she comes to the temple because she likes to prepare lunch for the monks as a means of merit making.
"I am not attached to any one person -- I come here for the monks and novice monks who have to be taken care of,'' she said.
The women said the scandal should not prevent people from visiting and that the temple is usually still full on merit making days.
Observing proceedings in the kitchen from a distance was 64-year-old Prasert Mhendang, the chief cook who started working there some 20 years ago.
She, along with her two daughters, works as a cook for the temple on a salary of 7,000 baht a month.
Ms Prasert recalled the time when she first visited the holy site before it was renovated and when former monk Phra Phrom Dilok was still low-ranking in the clergy.
Initially reluctant to speak up at first, she later agreed to talk because she said she wanted people to hear the other side of the story.
She said the former abbot was a good character who had never mistreated her in all the time they had known each other.
"I've known him for over 20 years. He is a good man,'' she said.
Discussing the temple raid by the police on May 24, Ms Prasert said she and other devotees were upset with the rough, impolite manner of the officers when arresting Phra Phrom Dilok who, as a high-level monk, deserved to be treated with more respect. The government later weighed in to criticise police for the way they had handled some of the raids.
"They did not even attempt to invite him to visit the police station to answer questions. They just showed up and arrested him,'' she said.
Adding her voice to the chorus of opinion within the temple that the former abbot is innocent, Ms Prasert said: "I still think that it is impossible that he would do such a thing.''
Ms Prasert and other devotees have been to see the former abbot in prison.
However, she said his lawyer advised them not to visit again for reasons that were not made clear to her.
She said she and other followers are still waiting for the former abbot to come back to them and that they hope the police will allow him to be released on bail.
"I will wait for him to come back,'' she said.
