Abbot cremation goes ahead despite missing body

24 เมษายน 2560

The cremation of a former abbot has finally come but the whereabouts of his body remain unknown.

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Empty coffin of ex-abbot cremated

By Pratuan Kajornwuttinan

SAKHON NAKHON - The cremation of a former abbot has finally come but the whereabouts of his body remain unknown.

Monks of Wat Sirimongkol in Ban Nong Ya Plong of Phang Khon district, disciples and family members of Phra Khru Sophon Thammaphiwat held a cremation of the former abbot on Saturday, as they decided not to wait until the body is recovered.

Monks attending the ceremony chanted, students from Sawang Dindaen School performed a traditional dance and villagers of Ban Nong Ya Plong staged a rumwong dance to pay their final respect to Phra Khru Sophon, who appreciated and supported Thai dances when he was alive.

The event looked like other cremation ceremonies except that there was no body in the coffin to be burned. Inside the casket were only the personal effects of Phra Khru Sophon before he died.

Phra Khru Sophon, known by local residents as Luang Ta Mahayont, died of natural causes at 79 on Jan 27. He was well respected in the province and was the district monastic chief.

His body was kept in a refrigerated coffin at the temple since he died. But when the monks and disciples came to move the body to a crematorium on Wednesday, they found the coffin empty.

"The temple committee agreed to the cremation although the body of Luang Ta Mahayont has not been found," Khampoon Wansawas, the Nong Ya Plong village chief, said.

"We leave it to police to look into this matter and find the body," he added.

Investigators of the Provincial Police Region 4 have joined police of Phang Khon police station to clear the mystery by interrogating all people close to him. So far, police have not found the answer to the case.

One of the police's theories is a personal conflict, while some disciples believed that the missing body could be the final magic of the late monk.

His relatives desperately resorted to supernatural means, hiring seers find the body, but they pointed to different directions.

Ratchanok Chueakhaopim, a great-granddaughter of the late monk, told the Daily News that she finally gave up the search after trying everything to find the body.

She said she was confident that the body was somewhere but it has yet to be found.