Phra Atiganboonjong Krugo has been abbot at Wat Kuanlang for 10 years, and aroused suspicion the whole time by “consorting with at least 10 women”.
But no evidence against him could be adduced, however, till he was seen by ever-vigilant villagers entering a store room with Mrs Ya Klogkajorn, aged 39, on Monday afternoon (July 23).
“When they saw him alone with a female attendant, they saw it as improper,” a local press report noted.The couple were seen entering the storeroom, where they remained alone together for some time. It was noted that they sat close enough that “their clothing intermingled”. One beer was opened and three plastic glasses laid out, together with a bag of snacks.
Villagers, concerned that such behaviour violated strictures concerning monkish discipline central to the Buddhist faith, stealthily placed a lock on the outside of the door, trapping the pair inside.
Other villagers were called to witness the forbidden scene, and tambon Kuanlang chief administrative monk Phra Kru Sumet Sutakul contacted to hold a hearing on the facts, along with relatives and followers of the suspect abbot numbering well over 100 people.
When Phra Kru Sumet arrived, he ordered the pair released and brought to the hearing room.
Phra Atiganboonjong defended himself against villagers’ accusations by stating unequivocally that – whatever appearances might suggest – he had violated no rules, had certainly not been drinking beer, and, indeed, engaged in no improper behaviour with Mrs Ya. “I went into the room with her only to receive an offering,” he explained, “but then local people locked us in together.”
Ya confirmed that Phra Atiganboonjong had not been drinking: “I was the only one drinking beer,” she said. “We went into the storeroom simply to eat,” she asserted.
But her accusers pointed out that if she and the abbot wanted merely to eat they might have done so with propriety in one of the wat’s public places, or in the abbot’s residence, which was open for all to see. To this, neither the abbot nor Mrs Ya made any reply, sitting silently.
After considering the evidence, Pra Kru Sumet ordered Phra Atiganboonjong relieved of his duties for seven days, pending results of further investigation by an ad hoc committee of Buddhist monks and laymen. “Both will receive justice within seven days,” he said.
The report added that when the abbot was inside his residence he frequently locked its door from the outside, “to make it appear no one was in, but in fact he was inside – alone with a female attendant.”
– Source Siang Tai