The Interior Ministry’s Provincial Administration Department has denied widespread online claims that the controversial former abbot of a Lop Buri temple used the same ID number as a deceased person.
After checking the official registry, they have confirmed that Alongkot Polamuk (aka ‘Luang Por Alongkot’), the former abbot of Phra Bat Nam Phu Temple, and the deceased Alongkot Phonmuk had different national ID numbers and that the Thai spellings of their names are not the same.
Therefore, online reports claiming that Luang Por Alongkot’s ID number matched that of a deceased person are false.
Some netizens said they found it suspicious that, when they used the deceased man’s ID number to transfer money via the PromptPay system, it was linked to the temple’s foundation.
Earlier, the wife of the deceased Alongkot told a Thai PBS reporter that she used to receive telephone bills addressed to Luang Phor Alongkot at her house, but she just assumed that they delivered in error.
Deputy commander of the Crime Suppression Division, Pol Col Anek Taosuparb, said they are attempting to determine the true identity of Luang Phor Alongkot and whether the former abbot had misused the identity of the deceased Alongkot.
Meanwhile, the assistant mayor of Khao Sam Yod in Lop Buri has fined Phra Bat Nam Phu Temple 2,000 baht for each of the 20 embalmed corpses of deceased AIDS patients, being kept at the temple, for not disposing of them in a proper manner.
The temple is also under police investigation for alleged misuse of public donations.
