Mysterious disappearance of Thai monk stirs fears of foul play

A Thai monk disappeared from a temple in the Isaan province of Loei to go on a pilgrimage and hasn’t been seen for over a month. The mother of the 40 year old monk, Sarawut “Yod” Larbpho, believes that her son has been murdered. She is convinced after the soul of her monk son possessed her body to tell the story.

Yod’s mother, Dokmai Larbpho, says her son has been a devoted monk for over two decades. Although his family home is in Nakhon Panom province, he relocated to the Tham Pha Dam Santi Dham Temple in the Loei province on July 13 last year reported ThaiRath.

Dokmai told the media that she received a call from a fellow monk at the temple on April 25, stating that her son had embarked on a pilgrimage the day before, on April 24. Concerned about his destination, she asked about his son’s destination, but the monk said he did not know.

Dokmai said she tried to contact Yod but was unable to reach him. She was curious and felt that her son would tell her if he had the pilgrimage plan. Dokmai revealed that her last conversation with Yod occurred at the beginning of April when he asked for 3,000 baht from her.

Dokmai claimed that the abbot, Jandee Thanajantho, and another monk at the temple named Buarian, denied her permission to visit the temple and search for Yod.

Dokmai believes her son has been murdered and his body is hidden inside the temple. She said she dreamt about it so, filed a complaint at Na Duang Police Station on Saturday, May 21.

Reports by ThaiRath and Amarin TV detailed Dokmai’s claim of being possessed by Yod’s soul during the interview. In this state, she declared that her son had been murdered due to a financial dispute among monks at the temple. She alleged that Yod’s arms and legs had been bound before he was buried alive on temple grounds.

The abbot, Jandee, later spoke to Amarin TV about the issue. He explained that Yod stayed at the temple for about a year. The temple has only three monks including him, Buarian, and Yod. Jandee insisted that they had never had a conflict with each other, and he never killed anyone. Jandee said…

“I do not believe in possession, or ghosts, or anything like that. It is just an unbelievable and nonsense thing. If the claimed possession really knew the truth, it should tell exactly who murdered Yod and where his corpse was hidden.”

Another monk at the temple, Buarian, claimed that he tried to stop Yod from going on the pilgrimage but he would not listen. He was the one who informed Dokmai about Yod’s intentions.

A local in the area, Banjong Phutup, reported to the media that he met Yod while he was walking along the road. Yod said he was on a pilgrimage but did not reveal his destination despite Banjong’s persistence. Then, he offered 200 baht to Yod and has not seen him since then.

Banjong added that Yod used to take medicine for a mental health issue but stopped taking it. He added that his mental health problems or stress might be the reason behind Yod’s journey.