- Wat Tham Krabok
Wat Tham Krabok ( _th. วัดถ้ำกระบอก, literally "Temple of the Bamboo Cave") is a Buddhist
temple (wat ) inThailand , located in the Phra Phutthabat district ofSaraburi Province .The temple was first established as a
monastery in 1958 by the Buddhist nun Mae Chee Boonruen. It was upgraded to temple status 17 years later, in 1975. The temple is majestic in its appearance, with goldpagodas marking its entrance.Hmong refugees
Since the end of the
Vietnam War , Wat Tham Krabok has hosted Hmongrefugee s in a camp on its grounds, most of whom fledLaos alleging that they were persecuted by the communist government that has ruled Laos since 1975. The Hmong wereUnited States war allies in theSecret War against the communistPathet Lao , theViet Cong andNorth Vietnam .When several Thailand-based Hmong refugee camps closed due to a lack of financial support in the early 1990s, Hmong refugees in Thailand fled to the temple to avoid
repatriation to Laos. The population at the temple quickly grew to about 16,000.Wat Tham Krabok and its Hmong refugees drew global attention in the mid-1990s, as they became the subject of a major global political debate over their future. The
United Nations , with support from theClinton administration , sought to repatriate the Hmong at Wat Tham Krabok to Laos. But this effort drew significant opposition from American conservatives andhuman rights leaders. Michael Johns, the influential formerHeritage Foundation foreign policy analyst and aide to former PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush , helped lead opposition to the forced repatriation, labeling it a "betrayal," since many Hmong had aided the United States during the Secret War [ [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_n20_v47/ai_17443642 "Acts of Betrayal," by Michael Johns, "National Review", October 23, 1995] ] .While some Hmong were repatriated, most began to be resettled to the
United States , with about one-third of them relocating to theU.S. state ofMinnesota , thoughCalifornia ,Wisconsin and other states also received significant numbers.Drug rehabilitation and trafficking
Wat Tham Krabok has also gained global notoriety for its
heroin andopium drug rehabilitation program, which was started in 1959. Over 100,000 heroin and opium addicts have since gone through the unique Wat Tham Krabok detox program, which includes Buddhist meditation, Asian herbal supplementation used for relaxation, induced vomiting, and the consumption of a secret detoxification potion made of over 100 unknown Asian herbs.After failing in other detox programs, a number of prominent Western drug addicts have sought treatment at Wat Tham Krabok, including British
punk rock musician andPete Doherty , rock music singerChristy Dignam of Aslan, and American computer underground personalityPatrick K. Kroupa . Because opium is commonly grown and consumed by the Hmong in the highlands of Thailand, many Hmong refugees also have undergone addiction treatment at Wat Tham Krabok.Wat Tham Krabok also is believed to have served as a conduit for international heroin and opium trafficking and possible arms trafficking to Hmong insurgents in Laos. Responding to these concerns, the Thai military, in April 2003, deployed hundreds of troops to surround Wat Tham Krabok. Thai military and police have since fenced the entire Wat Tham Krabok compound with
concertina wire in an effort to monitor and control entrance to the Temple.Global intrigue
Wat Tham Krabok's historic role in harboring Hmong refugees in the 1990s, and its global reputation for unique Buddhist approaches to lifestyle management and detoxification, have made the temple an increasingly popular destination for foreign tourists in Thailand. Thai officials, however, have sought to keep tourists at a distance from the Wat Tham Krabok grounds, citing suspicion that the temple is a likely source of international heroin and opium trafficking. There are also concerns that Wat Tham Krabok has played a role as a conduit for weapons and military support to Hmong military insurgents, who are engaged in a military conflict against the communist Pathet Lao government in neighboring Laos.
Resources
* [http://www.thamkrabok.net/ Wat Tham Krabok Monastery Official Web Site] .
* [http://www.irrawaddy.org/database/2004/vol12.5/cover.html "Yearning to be Hmong"] .
* [http://www.chiangmai1.com/news/hmong-article.shtml "Derivations of the Hmong Diaspora"] .
* [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_n20_v47/ai_17443642 "Acts of Betrayal"] , by Michael Johns.
* [http://www.thamkrabok.com/ "Independent Information for Addicts"] .
* [http://groups-beta.google.com/group/Friends-of-Thamkrabok-Monastery/ "Friends of Thamkrabok - Addict Support Community"] .
* [http://www.thamkrabok.org.au/ Thamkrabok Foundation - Australian based detox and support organisation]Notes
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.