On 24 September, Vientiane authorities shut down the KM38 Dharma Practice Center in Sangsai village, Pakngum district, after its leader declared herself the reincarnation of Phra Sri Ariya Metrai, the Maitreya Buddha that Buddhist tradition says will one day appear on earth to succeed Gautama Buddha.
Under the 24 September notice, the authorities canceled the center entirely, revoked the 2010 decision that had authorized it, and ordered local authorities in Pakngum district to take over the site.
The order came after Thongkeo Soumphonphakdy, the center’s head, continued leading practice there despite an earlier notice telling her to stop.
That notice came on 16 September, when the Lao Front for National Construction and the Lao Buddhist Fellowship Organization met to address the growing controversy over her claim.
They proposed a “peaceful measure” that would send a committee to counsel Thongkeo and require her to issue a public correction online, or a “decisive measure” that would ban her from all religious activities nationwide and call on Vientiane to suspend the center and remove her from the site within seven days.
However, Thongkeo did not comply, and the center stayed open, prompting authorities to escalate to the 24 September shutdown order.
The Controversy
The controversy began on 4 September, when Thongkeo publicly proclaimed herself to be the reborn Buddha, a claim that quickly went viral and drew heavy criticism and debate on social media.
Eleven days later, she defended the claim in an interview posted to the Facebook page “Phra Metta,” saying she had continued leading her followers without interruption and remained unbothered by the backlash.
She said she had kept the belief private for years before deciding to announce it, accepted that many people would not understand, and invited the public to come see the center for themselves.
The center opened in late 2009 and received official approval in 2010. It was never a temple, it operated as a meditation and dharma practice site under the Lao Buddhist Fellowship Organization, guided for years by Thongkeo herself.
