A TEMPLE DIVIDED
Thai and Laotian monks clash over sale of Buddhist site in Visalia.
by tim sheehan
THE FRESNO BEE
PHOTOS BY CHRISTIAN
PARLEY — THE FRESNO RtiE
Thai monks wait Wednesday in a Tulare County courtroom in the hope they will have a moment to be heard by the judge. Apparently .-they misunderstood what the hearing was about — they are not represented by an attorney — and never got the chance to speak on this morning about the controversy with Laotian monks surrounding the sale of Wat Visalia, the Buddhist temple in central Visalia.
VISALIA - The muted sounds of prayer chants and the slight fragrance of incense belie the tension between two groups of monks struggling for control of a central Visalia Buddhist temple.
The Wat Visalia temple's board of directors, dominated by Laotian immigrants, is selling the property, which is about midway through a 30-day escrow. Thai monks who share the temple and their supporters claim the board has no right to sell and hope to halt the sale.
It’s a culture clash that some believe stems from age-old animosities between neighboring Southeast Asian countries. It has spawned nasty accusations, an eviction notice, a lawsuit, a countersuit and a restraining order, all in a span of about two years.
Tulare County court records show that the sides reached a settlement about a year ago.
But the Thai abbot - or head monk - involved in the lawsuits and settlement has since returned to Thailand; the monks who now live at the temple weren't around then and don't want to give up.
With neither a firm command of English nor an attorney representing them. the Thai monks are hard-pressed to understand why they may be powerless to stop the sale of the temple, which records show was chartered in 1989.
Records in the Tulare County Assessor's Office show that the two parcels of temple property on North Leslie Street have a total assessed value of nearly $119,000. Both are zoned by the city of Visalia for multiple-family residential use
Four monks from Thailand and four from Laos live quietly at Wat Visalia - really not mucti more than a couple of houses and a converted garage. It's on North Leslie Street. The Kraft Foods North America plant is next door.
The 1.3-acre lot is fronted by a biock-and-wrought-iron fence' and a faded wooden sign that proclaims: "Wat Visalia." Small, colorful shrines dot the front lawn and hues of green, red and yellow adorn the buildings.
And then there's the "for sale" sign that went up last year.
The Thai monks - abbot Phra-maha Soonthorn Sornchai, Phramaha Sanguen Sinyen, Phramaha Jirapan Dhammachoonhanond and Phramaha Jantrop Pholyian -mirror the Laotian monks. They all wear the same robes in brilliant hues of tangerine or saffron, have the same close-cropped hair, share the same monastic vows and worship the same deity as the Laotian monks.
But the abbot says the Thais have been locked out of the prayer chapel and are not allowed to eat with their Lao counterparts.
"This problem, we don't know why," Sornchai, 34, said in broken English. "1 want to go to church. pray to Buddha, but we cannot go.... They want to kick out the Thai monks."
The monks say they believe the Lao board became upset with one of the former abbots, but don't know why.
"The former abbot, he retire and go back to Thailand," Sornchai said. "We don't know where he is, but now the problem we are fighting with some of the Laotians because they fight with the former abbot... and they want to sell this temple.
"Both sides think they are right to run the temple," he added.
The Laotians aren't saying much. referring questions to their attorney.
Richard judson, a Bay Area realestate broker who is handling the sale, acknowledged that there is a buyer and the property is in escrow, but didn't want to say anything more; "I'm in the middle of this, and I don't want to be."
Neither Judson nor David Greenseid, a San Mateo attorney representing the Lao board, would name the buyer.
Court records appear to confirm that the property itself is at the root of the troubles between the Thais and Laotians.
Mun Kiaosouvath of Visalia, a Laotian who chairs the temple board, sent a letter to temple members in April 2002 stating that the board voted to kick the two Thai monks then at the temple off the board and name new Laotian monks to lead Wat Visalia
Within a couple of weeks, the Thais filed a notice with the California secretary of state declaring their authority over the temple.
A few days after that, [he Laotians filed their own declaration with the state, prompting accusations by each board that the others' filing was under false pretenses.
Greenseid sent Thai abbot Sawai Uamket an eviction notice dated July 22, 2002, giving him three days to surrender the temple to Kiaosouvath. And on July 25.2002. the Lao board sued Uamket. monk Phramaha Sosaenchai and Thai board member Paul Soi-thong. alleging that the trio had exceeded its authority by hiring a real estate broker to sell the temple property.
The suit asked a judge to decide which group - the Thais or the Laotians - "are the duly constituted directors and officers."
In August 2002. the two Thai monks and Soithong countersued the Lao board, accusing Kiaosouvath and others of "illegally seizing control of the temple" and "harassing the Thai monks... by kicking their doors and of intimidating them by threatening to have 'gang members' take care of the Thai monks."
A mutual restraining order in November 2002 directed an end to the harassment and threats and ordered monks to stay at least 10 feet away from each other while on the temple grounds.
Soithong, the only one of the Thais named in the suit who is still in Visalia. said the split happened when Uamket. the former abbot, found a real-estate agent and listed the property for sale. but only "to scare the other side,"
"Now they want to sell this temple. ...I will do anything, go to jail maybe, to keep them from selling the temple," Soithong said.
Records in the Tulare County Assessor's Office show that the two parcels of temple property have a total assessed value of nearly Sll9,000- Both are zoned by the city for multiple-family residential use.
Greenseid, the attorney for the Lao board, said the Laotians' efforts to sell "grew out of a settlement agreed to by both the Thai side and Lao side... to resolve the dispute over who is the legitimate board overseeing the Wat Visalia."
The settlement - a private contract between the two sides and not part of the court record in the case - reportedly includes provisions for the Thais and the Council of Thai Bhikkhus in the U.S.A. Inc.. headquartered in Los Angeles, to recognize the Lao board as the only legitimate board of Wat Visalia; and for a monetary settlement to the Thais, to be administered by the Thai council in Los Angeles.
Creenseid said all the sides signed off on it, and a notation in the court records shows that the suit and countersuit were settled in April 2003.
That the dispute over religious property went so far as a restraining order shows the depth of feelings in the case, Creenseid said.
The Thai monks came to court Wednesday in Visalia hoping to argue their case before a judge. But the session before Tulare County Superior Court Judge Patrick O'Hara was limited to a ruling on relieving an attorney for one of the Thai monks who is no longer in the United States: it began and ended before the monks knew what was happening.
Kathy Chandler, a research attorney for O'Hara, tried to explain the process and told the monks that because of the settlement, the court considers the suits over.
Officials from the Council of Thai Bhikkhus in the U.S.A. Inc. in Los Angeles did not return phone calls seeking comment on the settlement.
Neither Kiaosouvath, the Lao board chairman, nor Laotian monk Souligneth Chounramany wanted to talk about the situation. Chounramany referred questions to Kiaosouvath, who deferred to attorney Greenseid,
"1 can only tell you about Wat Visalia is that it is a Lao community temple with a Lao board," Kiaosouvath said. "It's not a Thai temple."
But not all the Laotians affiliated with Wat Visalia fee! that way.
Bounlouane Vongphakdy. a Laotian who worships at the temple, supports the Thai monks and is fearful of the temple being closed or sold.
"Sometimes if I have trouble, I come to temple to pray," he said. "It makes me feel happy. -
"It should not be for sale." Vongphakdy added. "It should be for everybody."
The Thai monks, unsure of their situation, simply wonder what will happen next.
"We'don't want to leave here," said Sinyen. who at 29 is the youngest of the Thai monks at Wat Visalia. "We have no problem with the Lao monks, we have no fighting with the Lao board..., The problem comes from the previous monk.
"We hope someday everybody can work together again."
The reporter can be reached at tsheehan@fresnobee.com or 622-2410.
CHRISTIAN PARLEY —
THE FRESNO BEE
Thai board member Paul Soithong discusses the strained relations between Thai and Laotian monks inside the chapel of the Wat Visalia temple. Seen in Ihe background is a large, gold-painted Buddha that presides over an altar decorated with flowers for daily prayers and meditation.
Monks follow simple but rigid routine
by
tim sheehan
THE FRESNO BEE
VISALIA - Aside from the confrontation over who controls the property at 948 N. Leslie St.. life for four Thai monks and four Laotian monks at Wat Visalia, a Buddhist temple, is a simple matter.
The monks follow a tradition called Theravada, one of the early schools of the Buddhist faith, explained Phramaha Soonthorn Sornchai, the abbot - or head monk - of the four Thai monks at the ternple.
Phramaha Jirapan Dhammachoonhanond. another of the Thai monks, cheerfully showed off the prayer chapel. The interior is festooned with tapestries and bunting in bright shades of blue. yellow and red.
At the north end of the chapel, a large, gold-painted Buddha presides over an altar decorated with flowers and stocked with sticks of incense for the faithful to burn as they chant and meditate.
Dhammachoonhanond. 45. explained some of the monastic rules he and his fellow monks - Thai and Lao - follow on a daily basis.
Twice each day. at 7 a.m. and 5 p.m., the monks are required to pray. It's a 45-minute ritual that includes a half-hour of prayer chanting, followed by 15 minutes of meditation.
"Sunday is a special day, so we chant longer that day," he said.
The monks have only two meals a day - an early breakfast and lunch - which they must eat before noon. They cannot accept employment outside the temple, so they depend on donations of food and money from the faithful.
The colorful robes - either tangerine or saffron yellow - worn by the monks are part of the Buddhist tradition.
"Orange is the traditional color for the monks." Dhammachoonhanond said. but he was at a loss to explain the spiritual significance of the color.
"Maybe." he said with a smile, "because it is easy to see."
The Fresno Bee
