Nongprue Mayor Mai Chaiyanit was caught on CCTV footage slapping the face of Wat Boonsamphan treasurer, Wanchai Sanngam, who in turn was found to be using temple funds for personal gain by exploiting Chinese tour groups.
As Pattaya Mail online reported Saturday, Nongprue residents who worship at Wat Boonsamphan complained to authorities that they were no longer able to park at the temple, as temple employees were aggressively kicking them out in order to collect fees from the Chinese tour buses bringing in loads of donating- and trinket-buying Chinese tourists.
Worshippers also complained that the money being taken in had no oversight and some believed the money being collected wasn’t being handled properly, leading to doubts of non-transparency.
Turns out, they might have been right.
When Chinese tourists arrived, Wanchai and his people “looking like gods” allegedly told the tourists that they would have bad luck, but could be helped by performing a ceremony after donating 10,000-100,000 baht and buying fake holy objects.
Wanchai countered that he was helping the temple grow, but allegedly he took a 70-75 percent commission. He and his relatives owned the food and souvenir shops, and in the end the temple received very little of the income.
Nongprue Mayor Mai Chaiyanit was so angered by Wanchai’s alleged cheating, he slapped him. He also vowed to end the evil goings-on at the temple.
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