BANGKOK (THE NATION/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - A man, who claimed to be “the father of all religions” and allegedly told his followers to eat his waste, has been arrested on several charges after 11 corpses, mostly belonging to his followers, were found at his campsite in the central Chaiyaphum province of Thailand.

The cult leader was identified only as Thawee, 74, a resident of Nong Rua district of Khon Kaen province, Chaiyaphum Governor Kraisorn Kongchalard said on Monday (May 9).

He was arrested on Sunday when a celebrity shaman, Jiraphan Phetkhao, better known as Mor Pla, led police and authorities from other government agencies to raid the campsite located in a forest in a village in Tambon Dong Klang of Chaiyaphum’s Khon San district.

Jiraphan claims to have special powers to help people affected by superstition, and runs a TV programme in which he campaigns against those he calls fake shamans and Buddhist monks who violate the monk laws.

Jiraphan said a woman had sought his help after her mother went to the campsite, which was regarded by followers as a “hermitage”, and was allegedly not allowed to return home.

Ms Jenjira, 53, a resident of Khon Kaen, told Jiraphan that her mother, Noi, 80, went to the hermitage and had not returned home, saying she later learnt that the followers were told to eat the mucus, urine, excrement, and dandruff of “The Father” Thawee because all waste from him could cure all diseases.

When Mor Pla, the Chaiyaphum governor and Khon San police chief Colonel Watanachai Janhathum arrived with other authorities at the campsite, they found Thawee was surrounded by some 30 followers, who appeared to be middle-aged and elderly people.

They stayed together in a large make-shift wooden hut whose roof was made of grass leaves.

When the authorities arrived, no one in the hut was wearing a face mask to protect themselves against Covid-19.

All the followers reportedly affirmed their belief to the authorities that they thought Thawee was “Father, the God” who could cure them of all diseases.

But the 11 bodies, including one of Thawee’s mother, kept at the campsite - both in the main hut and satellite huts, apparently proved otherwise.

Shockingly, several of them drank Thawee’s urine and ate his scurf - flaky skin - fresh from his arms in front of the authorities.

The followers admitted to the authorities that the bodies belonged to sick followers who had died at the campsite after they went there to seek treatment from “The Father”. They wanted their bodies to remain there for “The Father” to later send them to “heaven”.

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