5 May 1999

The former policeman who opened his doors to the desperate

Magsaysay winner afriend of the Hmong

The Bangkok Post

Phra Chamroon Panchan, abbot of Wat Tham Krabok in Saraburi province, died yesterday at Bamrungrad hospital. He was 73.

The Magsaysay laureate, who was admitted 10 days ago with lung and liver trouble, ran the country's largest drug rehabilitation centre at the temple, which became a shelter for 30,000 Hmong people.

For years, the temple in Phra Phutthabat district had been recognised internationally as a leader in the treatment of narcotics addiction and as a rehabilitation centre. Despite treating tens of thousands of addicts, it drew accusations that it also housed drug dealers, mostly hilltribesmen.

Phra Chamroon, who won the Magsaysay Award for public service in 1975, said influential figures were trying to discredit the temple because its efforts to fight drugs were damaging their interests.

Powerful groups, he said, planted drugs in the compound and then pressed the police to search the grounds. "This was like killing two birds with one stone," he said. "They could force the Hmong away from the temple and eliminate us monks."Attacks on Phra Chamroon were nothing new. He was variously accused of being a communist and of backing the forces aligned to Gen Wang Pao in their efforts to topple the socialist government in Vientiane.

Phra Chamroon, a diabetic, often lamented the media's role in blackening the name of the temple. "Why did they do that to me? All I do is try to change bad people into good men." But he said he would forgive those who had "trespassed" against him.

He was one of six children born to a Lop Buri municipal officer. A younger brother joined him in the monkhood and another, a layman, helped look after the Hmong community.

Rumours that Phra Chamroon was at one time married and had a son and daughter living at the temple were never substantiated.

Before joining the monkhood, then Pol Sgt Chamroon Panchan was with the Special Branch Bureau when Pol Gen Pao Sriyanond was director-general. The abbot said he had been active against terrorism and general crime and had provided security for national leaders.

For eight years, he acted as a coordinator between the police and the military, but gave up the position because of the stress involved. He left the police force at the same time as Pol Gen Pao and was soon ordained at a temple in Bang Khae, where he was to establish ties with Hmong studying Buddhism there.

Later he left the monkhood to join Sea Supply Co, said to have been a front company set up by the Central Intelligence Agency to support Wang Pao.

When Laos fell to the communists in 1975, he returned to the monkhood, this time at Wat Tham Krabok. He revived his links with the Hmong in 1987 when 10 families sought treatment for drug addiction at the temple.

This was the first of a major influx of Hmong people at Wat Tham Krabok. The Hmong population there now numbers about 20,000, with hundreds of children born there every year.

Monks at Wat Tham Krabok said Phra Chamroon's assistance to the Hmong people, including his efforts to secure them an education, would benefit Thailand.

Phra Chamroon himself said many of the highlanders at Wat Tham Krabok were well educated: 67 had doctorates, 500 had master's degrees and 2,500 bachelor's degrees. He said the state should conduct a census and award them citizenship.

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