BANGKOK, Thailand -- Fearing duplication of 1993's Waco, Texas
bloodshed, thousands of Thai troops and police retreated from their
three-week siege surrounding a Buddhist temple after failing to find
the former abbot who is wanted for alleged financial crimes.
The sensational confrontation on Bangkok's northern edge ended on
March 10 and is widely seen as an embarrassing failure by the
coup-installed military government which deployed 4,000 security
forces in an unsuccessful attempt to arrest one elderly man.
The crackdown against Phra Dhammachayo, who is Dhammakaya temple's
former abbot, is part of a broader shake-up of Thailand's Buddhist
clergy which is frequently tainted by scandals involving sex, drugs,
money and other violations.
Dhammachayo, 72, founded the Dhammakaya temple in the 1970s,
promising fast enlightenment and a better reincarnation in exchange
for big donations.
He reportedly claimed to perform miracles and to have met Apple
computer's late co-founder Steven Jobs in a heavenly encounter.