Because opium used to be commonly grown and, at times, consumed by the Hmong (largely for medicinal purposes) in the highlands of Thailand and Laos, some Hmong refugees have undergone addiction treatment at Wat Thamkrabok. Wat Thamkrabok also supports the detoxification of those addicted to alcohol and methamphetamines. Wat Thamkrabok was believed to have served as a possible center of armed resistance to the Lao government with a limited number of weapons allegedly smuggled to some Hmong and Laotian insurgents and opposition groups in Laos. Responding to these concerns, the Thai military deployed hundreds of troops to surround Wat Thamkrabok in April 2003. This action was undertaken despite elements of the Thai military—many of whose officers were sympathetic to the Laotian and Hmong dissidents, insurgents and resistance fighter groups—allegedly, continuing to actively help to provide weapons and logistical support to Laotian and Hmong groups in Laos who oppose the communist government in Vientiane. The Thai military and police fenced the Hmong at Wat Thamkrabok with concertina wire in an effort to monitor and control entrance to it, before they were able to immigrate to the USA in 2004 and 2005. The area is no longer fenced. Wat Thamkrabok became an official Wat (Temple) in 2012. Vichien Gitiwanno (Luang Por Vichien) has been entitled as the first abbot of Wat Thamkrabok as an official temple recognized by the Thai Government. The number of patients has reached to 110,312 by the end of 2015. Wat Thamkrabok's historic role in harboring Hmong refugees in the 1990s and early 2000s, and its global reputation for unique Buddhist approaches to lifestyle management and detoxification, have made the temple a popular destination for foreign tourists and those seeking help with charitable and drug addiction treatment in Thailand. There have, however, been concerns, from some quarters, that Wat Thamkrabok may have played a role as an alleged conduit for weapons and military support to Lao and Hmong military insurgents and dissident groups, who were allegedly engaged in opposition to, and military conflict with, the communist Pathet Lao government in neighboring Laos as well as military and security forces from the allied marxist government in Hanoi, Vietnam. That alleged military support, and alleged assistance with weapons smuggling, has, however, from Thai military and other sources, apparently ended at Wat Thamkrabok and elsewhere in Thailand.