Villagers near Mae Rim District’s Wat Samakkheetham in Mae Rim District reported to authorities yesterday that the abbot of the temple had been abusing his novices. According to a Laotian man living in Chiang Rai who had a younger brother,12, living at the temple as a novice, his brother had called him to tell him of the abuse and he immediately caught a bus to Chiang Mai and went to the temple.