Temple Founder Defends Document, Criticizes Land Dispute Opponent
A former university official who helped establish Wat Pa Anulyaram in Khon Kaen defended the temple's founding documents and criticized a woman involved in a land dispute, asserting that donated land immediately becomes temple property unde
The man who drafted the petition to establish Wat Pa Anulyaram visited and encouraged the abbot, while criticizing a woman involved in the land dispute as unprofessional, speaking like a criminal, and seeking only to win. On August 16, 2025, at Wat Pa Anulyaram on Kalpapruks Road in Khon Kaen Municipality, Chaiyong Gongsri, 68, a former head of educational services at the Faculty of Medicine at Khon Kaen University, visited and encouraged Phra Kru Adunsaan Nithet, the abbot of Wat Pa Anulyaram. He was accompanied by monks and lay supporters from across the region who came to show support and closely follow updates on the temple land dispute. Chaiyong explained that in 1989 he began working at the university and purchased land in the Nong Waeng Tra Chu community to build a residence. After completing construction in 1992, he moved in, and by 1993 the community began expanding with more people settling in the area. At the site where Wat Pa Anulyaram now stands, there was only thick forest with no convenient road access. At that time, Intri, who served as the temple registrar, consulted with him about how to establish the temple. Chaiyong said he advised drafting the necessary documents to submit to relevant authorities in the proper sequence, typing the letter at his workplace and delivering it to the registrar to present for official temple establishment according to Department of Religion regulations. After considerable time, in April 1998, he learned that the Ministry of Education had announced the temple's establishment, as the temple showed him the official document which was later framed and displayed in the hall. Chaiyong further stated that the information provided by the woman in her media interviews was contradictory and inconsistent. He criticized her approach, saying she should speak with knowledge and professionalism rather than like a criminal seeking only to win. He emphasized that the law is clear from the beginning: once land is donated to the temple, it immediately becomes temple property. This is different from a commercial purchase, because donated land immediately becomes monastic property under Buddhist law.
