Influential Thai Buddhist monk too ill to face graft charges, say devotees

Abbot Phra Dhammachayo (C) arrives for a ceremony at the Wat Phra Dhammakaya temple in Pathum Thani province, north of Bangkok on Makha Bucha Day, March 4, 2015. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj/File Photo

BANGKOK (Reuters) - A stand-off in Thailand between investigators and a powerful Buddhist sect intensified on Thursday after its influential abbot failed to appear at a police station to answer graft charges because followers said he had fainted.Temples and monasteries in mainly Buddhist Thailand have been rocked by sex and money scandals, prompting widespread calls for reform. The country's political divisions have also created fissures within the religion.Phra Dhammachayo, abbot of Wat Phra Dhammakaya, missed a Thursday deadline from the Department of Special Investigations (DSI) to turn himself in to face charges of money-laundering and receiving illegal donations.

"If he was to come now, it would risk his life," Ongart Thammanita, a spokesman for Dhammakaya followers, told reporters. "Doctors will need to treat him first."