Drug rehab temple closed after torture claim
A drug rehabilitation facility at a Kanchanaburi temple was ordered to close on Wednesday after the mother of one of its patients complained her son was tortured by facility officials.
The facility at Wat Tha Phu Rat Bamrung was treating 274 patients – 49 psychiatric cases and 225 drug addicts – according to the Department of Medical Services.
The closure order came after an investigation of the temple by the Princess Mother National Institute on Drug Abuse Treatment, the Narcotics Control Board and related agencies.
The institute’s director, Sarayut Boonchaipanichwatana, said the temple's abbot, who had operated the facility, had died on Monday (September 20).
"The facility must submit documents to the Kanchanaburi Provincial Public Health Office as soon as possible," Sarayut said.
Kanchanaburi governor Jirakiat Phumsawat has ordered the 17th Military Circle to help the facility contact relatives to take back patients from the temple by today.
Of the 274 patients at the facility, 134 have returned home, 20 have stayed to help with the abbot's funeral, and 120 have been moved to a field hospital at the Khao Chon Kai Territorial Defence Student-Training Camp.
