And why the founding abbot’s name is not being mentioned, even though today is his 80th birthday.
Today marks Earth Day in the Buddhist calendar—a time for reflection, renewal, and reverence.
At Wat Phra Dhammakaya and other temples in Thailand, the celebrations are vast and well-orchestrated: mass meditation, offerings from tens of thousands of followers, and a global monastic forum streamed to followers around the world.
It’s also the 80th birthday of the temple’s founding abbot, a figure revered by many and remembered for his sweeping vision of modern Buddhist outreach.
Yet, for all the ceremony and symbolism, one detail remains conspicuously absent: his name.
No mention in the programme. No image on the banners. No birthday tribute.
For long-time observers, this silence is familiar. His whereabouts have not been publicly disclosed for years.
What Everyone Knows; What No-one Will Talk About
The international and Thai press were, for several weeks in 2017, covering the police and military activities at Wat Dhammkaya, Thailand’s largest temple. It was the largest combined military and police operation since the 2014 coup.
The abbot, Phra Dhammakayo, was wanted on multiple charges of corruption and fraud, the most serious involving the collapse of a credit union linked to the wat.
Although the police believed Dhammakayo was hiding in the temple, they found, after several weeks of unexplained delay, that he had fled. To this day, no-one knows where he is.
The Politics of Religion
Legal tensions, unresolved allegations, and the politics of religious leadership have kept his name out of the spotlight—even on a day that would, under other circumstances, be his.
And yet, the temple continues to honour his legacy. The flamboyant architecture, the rituals, the scale of the celebrations—all bear his imprint. It’s a kind of reverence without reference. A tribute in everything but name.
In Thailand, silence is rarely empty. It’s often a gesture of grengjai—a way to avoid causing discomfort, embarrassment, or loss of Face.
To speak openly about the abbot’s absence might risk undermining the harmony of the occasion. Better, perhaps, to let the symbols speak and the silence settle.
“Face” in Thai culture isn’t just about pride—it’s about preserving dignity, status, and social balance. Public confrontation, even in the form of a question, can be seen as disruptive.
So the temple’s choice to omit his name may not be avoidance. It may be etiquette.
In a society where emotional restraint is respected and indirectness is a form of avoiding conflict, the absence of a name can be more telling than its presence.
Today’s celebrations are as much about continuity as they are about commemoration. And in Thailand, continuity often means knowing when not to speak.
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