Buddhist monks and lay people were urged to wake up and to join forces to brace for what was alleged to be an unprecendent organized threat against the monastic order and Buddhism.

The “wake up” call was made by Phra Methithammajarn, secretar-general of Buddhism Protection Centre and a vocal supporter of Wat Dhammakaya and acting supreme patriarch Somdet Chuang in a message posted on his Facebook page on Sunday.

The monk claimed that Buddhism in Thailand is mired in an unusual situation in which several groups of people of different powers ganging up to push the monastic into the corner by making false allegations to discredit monks as a whole, citing the vintage luxury scandal against Somdet Chuan, the abbot of Wat Paknam Phasicharoen and the Sangha Supreme Council.

Phra Methithammajarn said that the ill-intent elements were able to do this because the monastic order itself is weak and is not united.

He then called upon all Buddhist monks and Buddhist lay people to be aware of the threats and to join forces to protect the monastic order and Buddhism.

“Please wake up, we are surrounded by dangers – so many dangers – how long the future of Buddhism in this country will last. If we do not to stand up to protect us, who will protect us?” said the monk in his message.

The “wake up” call followed a recent announcement by the Department of Special Investigation of the findings on the vintage car scandal which show that Somdet Chuang may face charge of tax evasion regarding the import of a used Mercedes Benz vintage car in the form of spare parts.

Earlier Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha brushed aside the threat made by Phra Methithammajarn, making it clear that anybody – be him a monk or a lay person – will be dealt with in accordance with the law if he defies the law.