Mano Laohavanich

Education and Monkhood

Laohavanich attended primary school at Assumption College, a private all-boys Catholic school, and then later went to study at Triam Udom Suksa School, one of the most competitive upper-secondary schools in Thailand. Laohavanich went on to Chulalongkorn University where he studied medicine.

While Laohavanich did end up receiving his medical degree, he later ordained as a Buddhist monk at Wat Phra Dhammakaya in 1982 in lieu of pursuing a medical career. After ordaining as a Buddhist monk, Laohavanich went on to study abroad, earning degrees in Indian literature and theology at Oxford and Harvard University, financed by Wat Phra Dhammakaya.

Despite the fact that Laohavanich is most famous for his public statements against the temple he lived at during this time, accounts of his time there have been disputed. Wat Phra Dhammakaya's account of the outspoken critic's time at the temple describes Laohavanich as a "narcissist" who got into several conflicts with other monks at the temple. In contrast, Laohavanich has claimed that he was a "founding member" and a "top leader" at Wat Phra Dhammakaya, as well as "a rising star envied by other followers".

Laohavanich eventually left Wat Phra Dhammakaya in 1994, although he would remain a monk for another 13 years. The reason Laohavanich left the temple has also been disputed, Wat Phra Dhammakaya claims he left due to several conflicts and because he didn't fit in with the temple culture. Laohavanich, however, has given differing reasons as to why he left the temple, one time stating he left because he allegedly saw families being destroyed by giving too much to the temple, and then another time claiming he left because the abbot allegedly tried to convince him he was god. On another occasion, Laohavanich claimed he left the temple because he allegedly found out that the abbot was secretly investing in unnamed weapons companies.

After leaving Wat Phra Dhammakaya, Laohavanich moved to Wat Rajorasaram. He later left this temple as well and moved to Wat Nak Prokand before eventually leaving monkhood completely in 2007.

Legal case of Johnathan Doody

One incident that Dr. Laohavanich was particularly famous for being involved in was the case of Johnathan Doody, a suspect in the Arizona Buddhist temple shooting in 1991. As a result of this bloody shooting, Doody was convicted in 1994 of armed robbery and the murder of nine people, including six monks.

While still a monk, Laohavanich took a deep interest in the case from its onset, promoting the idea that Doody was innocent. Laohavanich cited aspects of the investigation as well as cultural reasons as to why Doody could not have committed the crime. Laohavanich stated that "[i]t was inconceivable that a person born of Thai parents would commit such a crime against monks" and published several writings on the case arguing for Doody’s innocence. Still as a monk, Laohavanich even raised money from lay people from numerous temples for Doody's appeal, which sparked criticism from some senior monks.

In 2008, Doody's conviction was overturned on the basis that his confession was not voluntary. The next trial resulted in a mistrial.

In 2014, a third trial concluded that Doody was indeed guilty on all counts, including armed robbery and all nine murders and was sentenced to nine life terms in prison.

Criticism scholarly and literary works

Mano Laohavanich has been criticized by fellow Buddhist scholar venerable Payutto, also known as Phra Bhramagunabhorn, on his academic works for using misleading facts. An example Venerable Payutto cites with regard to Dr. Mano's book, It Started in the Year 1 B.E., is that is that one person in the book (Mr. Plong) had never traveled to a free country, which in the context was misleading readers into thinking he must have traveled only to communist countries. In reality, the person mentioned had never traveled to any foreign country.

Venerable Payutto has also criticized Laohavanich for lacking references in his works, saying that Mano Laohavanich's writing "has no references or meaningfulness, and is thus harmful [to Buddhism]". Venerable Payutto has called Mano's scholarship a type of "academic mysticism", in which he finds bits of information and makes up logic without investigating the meaning.

Political controversies

Since the 2014 coup d'état, Mano Laohavanich has become member of the National Reform Council, a council set up by the Thai junta to reform Thailand, explained as preparing the country for democratic elections. Since he has assumed this role, Dr. Mano has had contributed significantly to news reports, described by critics such as news outlet Matichon as 'unsubstantiated claims' (Thai: ข่าวลือ), criticizing former Thai Rak Thai party members and other groups, including Wat Phra Dhammakaya. Dr. Mano has made several controversial and disputed remarks about his former temple, Wat Phra Dhammakaya. He gave a contested account of the temple's teachings and a disputed biography of the life of the abbot, Luang Por Dhammajayo, including allegations he was an admirer of Adolf Hitler. In the temple's publications, however, the temple does teach about the disadvantages of the Second World War, mentioning Hitler as an example of someone causing suffering.

Laohavanich has also made claims that the abbot of Wat Phra Dhammakaya wants to conquer the world, claiming that the abbot told Laohavanich "I don't care about being Supreme Patriarch, I want to conquer the world".

Laohavanich has also stated that Wat Phra Dhammakaya is a threat to the Thai Junta and that the temple has been secretly stockpiling weapons. After the claims were made, temple officials allowed news reporters to search the temple for the alleged contraband, and none were found.

In an interview with the Bangkok Post, Dr. Laohavanich gave a disputed account of the layout of Wat Phra Dhammakaya, stating that the temple possesses a secret underground escape tunnel that only the abbot knows about, a heavily fortified luxury residence with expensive furniture guarded by five hundred monks, a "cyber command centre" with six hundred "cybertroops", and a fortified safe house that holds a stash of gold and treasure. Despite a large scale search operation by authorities, officials did not report any the items Dr. Laohavanich alleged the temple to have had. Officials did initially report finding an underground tunnel, however this was later confirmed to be an underground water facility.

On Thai Rath TV, Laohavanich claimed that Wat Phra Dhammakaya invented a new "high-tech" communication device to mobilize devotees, the device mentioned was later confirmed to have been a tally counter followers were using for mantra meditation.

During the 2016–17 Klongchan Credit Union case against Luang Por Dhammajayo, Laohavanich submitted letters to DSI and held interviews with Thai press calling for an expedition of the case by the Thai Justice Department. This was met with backlash and threat of legal action from board members of the affected credit union, who did not support the case. In regards to the same case, Laohavanich also claimed that the abbot had a lifetime visa to the United States and was planning to flee to the US before trial. However, the United States discontinued and invalidated all lifetime visas to the country over a decade ago in the early 2000s.

On a similar note, in January 2017, Dr. Laohavanich claimed that the abbot had left Wat Phra Dhammakaya secretly along with a secret stockpile of gold and jewels in one of several shipping containers spotted. He later contradicted this claim the following month and stated that the abbot was still inside the temple.