BANGKOK: An elderly monk wanted for massive fraud may have escaped a three-week siege of his temple, Thai cops admitted on Saturday, thwarting a much-trumpted dragnet ordered by the kingdom’s junta. On February 16 the Thai junta invoked special powers to seal off the the 1,000-acre grounds of the Wat Dhammakaya temple on the outskirts of Bangkok. Since then thousands of police officers have laid siege to the temple in a bid to arrest 72-year-old monk Phra Dhammachayo, who was believed to be holed-up inside. On Saturday cops said Phra Dhammachayo may have left the temple in the early days of the weeks-long siege. Thaksin was ousted in a 2006 coup and still hated by the Bangkok elite and their military allies who have spent years trying to expunge the influence of his super-rich clan on Thai politics.

Source: Manila Times March 11, 2017 12:29 UTC