Wat Tham Krabok (วัดถ้ำกระบอก)

Thai. ‘Temple of the Bamboo Cylinder Cave’. Name of a Buddhist monastic complex in the Amphur Phraphuttabaht of Saraburi Province. It is a famous, but controversial temple, where opium and heroin addicts are treated for their addiction using a treatment based on herbs and a strict regimen, combined with education from the Dhamma. The term krabok denotes a bamboo cylinder or a cut-off hollow section of bamboo resembling a pipe (fig.); in this context, it is thought to reference the tubular, tunnel-like form of the cave associated with the site, following a naming pattern comparable to caves such as Tham Lod (ถ้ำลอด - fig.). The monastery was founded in 1957 by the Buddhist nun Mae Chi Mian Paanchan (เมี้ยน ปานจันทร์), also known as Luang Pho Yai (ใหญ่), together with her nephews Chamroon Paanchan (จำรูญ ปานจันทร์) and Chareen Paanchan (เจริญ ปานจันทร์), both of whom had previously ordained at Wat Khlong Mao (วัดคลองเหมา) in Lopburi. Although it functioned for decades as a major monastic community, it received formal recognition as a wat only in 2012, at which time Wichien Pitiwannoh (วิชิญ ปิติวรรณโณ), or Luang Pho Wichien, became its first government-appointed abbot. Wat Tham Krabok is distinguished visually by an ensemble of monumental structures. The temple’s focal point is an elevated circular platform approached by a staircase flanked by two giant Buddha statues, the left named Phra Nuan Chan (พระนวลจันทร์) and the right Phra Nuan Phan (พระนวลพรรณ). At the top of the staircase, a seated Ganesha stands to the left, while to the right a seated Buddha holds a lotus in each hand. Twenty-five seated Buddha images in the maravichaya posture line the perimeter of the platform, all facing inward toward an octagonal base that supports three pillar-like structures symbolising giant candles. At the centre of this base are four large Buddha statues seated back-to-back, each flanked by two smaller standing Buddhas. The statues facing the front and rear perform the varada mudra — the ‘granting of wishes’ gesture — while those on the sides sit in the meditation pose in front of a dhammachakka, the Wheel of the Law. Nearby, the ubosot constitutes another principal feature of the complex and is dramatically encircled by thirty-six large gilded Buddha statues: twelve on each side in a variety of upright poses, six along the rear, and five positioned at the front, plus a sixth centrally placed seated Buddha beneath a broad parasol-like canopy anchoring the composition. Elsewhere on the grounds are the quarters historically used to house individuals undergoing the temple’s strict drug-rehabilitation regimen. In a park on one side of the temple stands a monumental statue of King Rama IX, adding a modern commemorative dimension to the site. The monastery’s international prominence dates from 1959, when it began its distinctive drug rehabilitation programme combining Buddhist meditation, induced vomiting, and ingestion of a proprietary herbal detoxification potion. More than 100,000 individuals addicted to heroin, opium, alcohol, and later methamphetamines have undergone treatment at the centre. In 1975, Luang Pho Chamroon, the first abbot and a former Police officer, received the Ramon Magsaysay Award, named after the 7th president of the Philippines,  for his contributions to this humanitarian work. The programme later drew numerous foreign participants, including some celebrities, one whose recovery in 2004 received considerable attention in the British press and led to his long-term residence as a close disciple of Luang Pho Charoen. The centre has also treated members of the Hmong community, reflecting the longstanding medicinal use of opium among Hmong populations in the highlands of Thailand and Laos. From the late 1970s the monastery assumed an additional role as a sanctuary for Hmong refugees fleeing persecution in Laos following the 1975 communist takeover. Many resisted forced repatriation from other Thai refugee camps and sought safety at Wat Tham Krabok, where the population grew to approximately 35,000 by the early 1990s. The temple leadership, particularly Luang Pho Chamroon, offered support to elements of the Hmong resistance. This political involvement, along with the large concentration of refugees, drew sustained attention from humanitarian organisations, governments, journalists, and scholars. Beginning in 1993, the Centre for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) and its executive director conducted repeated research missions to the monastery and to camps along the Thai–Lao border, often in cooperation with members of the U.S. Congress and Lao veterans’ organisations, documenting human rights concerns and pressures toward forced repatriation. During the 1980s and 1990s, the fate of the Hmong community at Wat Tham Krabok became the subject of an international debate. The Thai government, supported by the United Nations and the U.S. administration, advocated repatriation to Laos, whereas Hmong organisations, human rights advocates, and American legislators, opposed such measures. After prolonged negotiations, more than 15,000 Hmong refugees from the site were permitted to resettle in the United States between 2004 and 2005, with earlier transfers beginning in 2001. Only a small number of Hmong families remain at the monastery today. In 2003, concerns that the site was being used to supply support to Hmong insurgents in Laos prompted the Thai military to encircle the settlement with fencing and increase surveillance, measures that remained in place until the large-scale resettlement alleviated security concerns. By the end of 2015, Wat Tham Krabok had recorded 110,312 individuals treated through its detoxification programmes, affirming its status as one of Thailand’s most distinctive centres of monastic engagement, humanitarian action, and socio-religious innovation. Also called Wat Tham Khao Krabok, Samnak Songtham Krabok (สำนักสงฆ์ถ้ำกระบอก) and Wat Tham Krabok Co Inter (วัดถ้ำกระบอกโกอินเตอร์). WATCH VIDEO and VIDEO (EN). 回