Pathum Thani, Thailand: An embezzlement charge against a powerful Buddhist abbot has unleashed his super-rich temple’s PR machine, with Twitter-using Thai monks orchestrating his defence over a scandal that has opened a bitter rupture at the heart of the nation’s faith.
“There has never been a temple of this size in Thai history,” orange-robed Phra Pasura Dantamano says as he gestured towards Dhammakaya temple’s pristine, 1,000-acre compound north of Bangkok.
But the affable monk’s comments apply to more than the temple’s enormous, futuristic architecture — including a building that resembles a gigantic UFO.
Dhammakaya is also regarded as the wealthiest in Buddhist-majority Thailand, thanks in part to tech-savvy devotees who have cultivated a fervent following, raised tens of millions of dollars and set up outposts in dozens of countries across the globe
