By LAWI WENG
About 300 supporters of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra took part in a religious ritual on Tuesday morning at Wat Umong, a Buddhist temple in northern Thailand. The rites were performed by the abbot of the monastery and eight local monks to help cleanse the ousted premier of the bad karma that has dogged him for the last two and a half years, according to the English-language press in Bangkok.
Thai dailies The Nation and the Bangkok Post reported that the ritual, a combination of animism, voodoo and Buddhism, was performed by the abbot of Wat Umong and eight other monks at the monastery, which was built circa 1300 A.D.
The Thaksin supporters reportedly placed two pigs’ heads, three cooked chickens, rice, liquor, fruits and sweets on a table as an offering to a Buddha statue. A photograph of Thaksin was then placed alongside the offering while the monks chanted and prayed for him.
Thaksin was unable to attend the religious ritual in person because as a fugitive from justice, he is currently living in self-imposed exile.
The ex-premier is known to be a superstitious man. During his time in power, he frequently held religious rituals at Buddhist temples. However, several superstitious critics have alleged that as he did not hold “proper” rituals, his karma changed and he fell from power.
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