Troubling Brief Encounter At Burmese Wat

[brahmburgers]

This could be a one-off weird little event - or it could be indicative of a large problem.

I was visiting Tachilek (Burmese border town), a few months ago. I stopped at a wat, sat down on cement bench to relax. Gazing off toward the wat, 40 meters away, I saw there were a small circle of very young monks, looked about 8 years old average. The little guys were hassling among themselves, but it looked like lightweight kid's stuff.

A little while later, a young monk, about 14 years old, came up on his bicycle and stopped right in from of me. He was dressed in orange robes. He parked the bike and, without a word, immediately sat on my lap. I just as quickly tried to move him off. He squirmed his butt, so I forcefully shoved him off and mildly scolded him. He then sat down too close to me and and stuck his finger in his mouth indicating he could give me a 'blow job'. He did this with eye contact and no smile. I slid away from him on the bench and scolded him again, more forcefully. I looked over toward a nearby building on the premises and noticed a monk in his 20's standing there in the shadows, grinning at me. I got on my bicycle and rode away.

This troubled me for more than the obvious reasons - as I recalled the young monks sitting outside, and their mini hassling with each other. The whole scene painted a picture of sexual abuse going on at that Wat compound. It's well known that many Burmese male infants are given to wats, because the families simply can't afford to feed and take care of them.

The thought of possibly many little boys being sexually preyed upon in Burmese wats is repulsive to me. In regard to my brief encounter at that wat; I thought to seek an audience with the head monk there, and voice my concern. Similarly, I thought to mention the experience to other head monks in nearby wats.

Am open to suggestions.

Edited November 10, 2008 by brahmburgers

[sabaijai]

Troubling indeed. While Thailand has had plenty of scandals involving monks, some of them highly publicised, it appears to me that the Vinaya or monastic disclipine in Myanmar is worse than that found in any of the Theravada-majority countries. Not to tar all Burmese monks -- there are many good monks and very strict monasteries in the country as well. Obviously the novice monks you encountered do not belong to such a community. A well-run monastery would supervise novices of that age at all times.

You might try contacting an NGO in Thailand engaged in the prevention of child abuse, as they may have contacts in Myanmar.

ThaiVisa.com has a policy of closing any discussions involving paedophilia or suggested paedophilia, even when they are news reports (though we generally leave the topic posted, for information's sake, and will in this case) because the discussion tends to get out of hand quickly. There is also a chance, however slight, that Thai authorities could misinterpret the content as in some way being pro-child abuse. Thanks for understanding.