OBSERVERS say Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha has failed to give a positive response to calls for the National Reform Council (NRC) committee on the protection of Buddhism to be scrapped.

Headed by Paiboon Nititawan, the NRC committee drew intense criticism after it openly attacked Dhammakaya Temple's abbot Phra Dhammachayo. Several groups have demanded the prime minister scrap the committee. Some monks have even threatened to stage rallies.

When asked about the calls, Prayut said yesterday he had assigned NRC chairman Thienchay Kiranandana to look into the matter.

While the PM denied that he had tried to protect the NRC panel, he said, "The committee has its good side too. So if you think the committee doesn't do the right thing, we should discuss the issue and gradually try to resolve it."

About 50 monks from a monk-university campus in Khon Kaen province, meanwhile, lodged a petition against the committee.

They demanded it be scrapped on suspicion that Paiboon was mixing politics with religious affairs.

Paiboon was a speaker on the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) stage during its rallies against the previous administration. Or Noi Temple abbot Phra Buddha Isara, who has also spoken out against Phra Dhammachayo, is a former PDRC co-leader.

Both Phra Buddha Isara and Paiboon have also lately - though separately - criticised the Sangha Supreme Council (SSC) for allowing Phra Dhammachayo to stay in a saffron robe.

Both insist that the monk has already been automatically defrocked because of a written statement in 1999 by the then-Supreme Patriarch.

Yesterday, Phra Buddha Isara made several moves to pressure the SSC, including submitting a petition for the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) to investigate the assets and financial transactions of one of the country's most senior monks.

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PM deflects criticism of NRC committee