Former Khmer Krom Monk Tim Sakhorn arrives in Sweden

07 July 2009
By Hassan
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy
Click here to read the article in Khmer

At the end of last week, Tim Sakhorn, the former abbot of the Phnom Den North pagoda, located in Takeo province, left monkhood and he safely arrived in Sweden on Saturday 04 July.

From Sweden, the former abbot indicated that he was forced to leave monkhood one more time in order to facilitate his trip to a country where there is not yet a Buddhist pagoda.

While still mixing up monk and laymen language, Tim Sakhorn said that he wanted to be re-ordained as a Buddhist monk again: “I am telling you, first of all, I arrived in Thailand as a monk. Then, the UN allowed me to find refuge in a third country outside of Thailand. Because of difficulties along the road, and because in the country I will be going to there is no pagoda, I decided, after discussions with other Buddhists, to leave monkhood temporarily. Therefore, now that I am in Sweden, I still want to become a Buddhist monk as I was earlier.”

Regarding his desire to be re-ordained, Thach Ngoc Thach, executive director of the Khmer Kampuchea-Krom Federation (KKF), said that he will discuss this issue with Khmer Krom Buddhist clergy to re-ordain Tim Sakhorn again: “Regarding Tim Sakhorn, prior to his trip to Sweden, he discussed about the difficulties during his trip, therefore, we believe that he should leave monkhood temporarily, this is one issue. Secondly, we observe that there is no Cambodian pagoda there, so it is difficult. We also discussed among ourselves because Tim Sakhorn wants to be re-ordained again, we will discuss with Khmer Krom monk clergy to see how to do it based on Tim Sakhorn’s request. He is a true believer of Buddhism.”

Tim Sakhorn also indicated that numerous other Khmer Krom people are also fleeing from Vietnam. They are currently having great difficulties in finding refuge in Thailand.

Tim Sakhorn called on International organizations to help find quick resolutions for these Khmer Krom refugees: “For me who have arrived in this third country, I am happy and I thank the UN which helped me escape the arrest and the suffering imposed by Vietnam. I was very scared in Thailand: for 3 months, I never went out and I was in hiding under extreme difficulties. Therefore, I am calling on the UN to help these [Khmer Krom] people so that they can leave to a third country soon, just like me.”

In the past, Tim Sakhorn told RFA that Tep Vong, the Cambodian supreme Buddhist patriarch, issued an order to defrock him and have him pushed into a car that delivered him to the Vietnamese authority. He was subsequently jailed in the Vietnamese prison in Kien Giang province (South Vietnam).