Monks defrocked, get rehab for Phuket garden drug parties

[Lite Beer]

Monks defrocked, get rehab for Phuket garden drug parties
Eakkapop Thongtub

Some of the monks hear the results of their 'purple pee' tests

PHUKET: Five monks were defrocked yesterday (April 30) and sent for drug rehabilitation after they were found to under the influence of drugs. Another 11 were disciplined by their abbot for inappropriate behaviour.

The action came after the owner of a garden reported to police that, after doing alms rounds in the early afternoon, 18 monks from Wat Thalang were in the habit of disappearing into his garden. He was suspicious about what they were up to, he told officers.

Police arrived at the garden, close to the airport road. In a tin hut they found cooking utensils and a large number of empty alcohol bottles. Two of the 18 monks managed to escape, but the other 16 were rounded up and taken back to the wat.

There, the abbot, Promprapatsorn, headed the investigation into the bahaviour of the monks, some of whom were apparently woozy from alcohol or drugs.

Police requested urine samples from them all. The “purple pee” results on five of the samples indicated the possible presence of drugs.

The monks said they had only been taking medication for illness, so the police took them to Thalang hospital to check their blood for narcotics. The results were positive, at which point the monks confessed to drug abuse and requested to be sent for drug rehab.

The abbot expelled the five from the monkhood. The other 11 were found not to have committed crimes or contravened the rules of the monkhood in any major way but, because they had been behaving “wrongly” he ordered them to return to their original temples in Isarn for training to correct their behaviour.

All 16 were from Isarn, the grilling revealed. They said they had traveled to Phuket because they could get good money from local people and tourists wanting to make merit. At home, they said, they had hardly any income.

The landlord waived the right to charge them for trespassing on his land.

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/monks-defrocked-get-rehab-for-phuket-garden-drug-parties-46033.php

-- Phuket News 2014-05-01

[Cylon]

Monk e business

[Thaddeus]

Monk e business

Monk he see

Monk he do

[NamKangMan]

Even religion is corrupt on Phuket.

[Costas2008]

What rehabilitation?

Send them to jail, so they can pray hard, when the inmates ask them to bend over.

[Scully]

Ever commit a crime in Thailand and join the monkhood, you can get away with all sorts. No need in waisting their drugs just build a huge doob.

[Brevity]

"They said they had traveled to Phuket because they could get good money from local people and tourists wanting to make merit. At home, they said, they had hardly any income."

I thought monks weren't supposed to touch or use money. I have heard this a couple of times.

My first impression of the monks in the picture is that they look tough and dangerous. I remember driving by a wat shortly after I moved to Thailand and seeing a monk leaning against the the archway to the wat, smoking a cigarette. He looked like a hoodlum and had a lot of tattoos. That was an eye-opener. After talking to people about this, I found out that people sometimes become a monk to avoid jail time.

[Lupatria]

Do I read between the lines: Thanks to Buddha they're not Thai monks, they're from Isarn?

[webfact]

Meth-head monks defrocked after Phuket raid
Phuket Gazette


Five monks tested positive for the drug ya bah. Photo: Thawit Bilabdullar

PHUKET: -- Five monks from Northern Thailand were defrocked in Phuket and volunteered to go to a drug-rehabilitation camp after testing positive for ya bah (methamphetamine) during a Thalang Police raid yesterday.

Police were notified of the behavior of the group of monks by residents in Moo 5 of Thepkrasattri Sub-district.

“Residents suspected that the men were fake monks because they went out and collected food and money at 1pm daily, then allegedly returned to a shelter on the airport bypass road to drink and use drugs,” said Lt Suchart Leucha of the Thalang Police.

When police arrived at the two shelters the monks were using, they found empty beer bottles outside.

“We questioned 16 monks at the scene, and asked to see their documentation while we conducted urine tests – we could smell alcohol on some of them,” Lt Suchart said.

“They all had the proper documentation. They are from temples in North and Northeastern Thailand.”

The five monks who tested positive for ya bah were defrocked at Thep Wanaram Temple (Wat Manik), but not charged, as they agreed to go to rehab.

The remaining 11 were sent back to their temples in the north, said Lt Suchart

Lt Suchart declined to name those defrocked.

One of the monks explained to police that it was possible to raise much more money at tourism destinations than they could at temples upcountry, which inspired them to come to Phuket.

“We cannot allow this to happen in Phuket. It could destroy our tourism image,” Lt Suchart said.

— Thawit Bilabdullar

Source: http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket-news/Methhead-monks-defrocked-Phuket-raid/29309#ad-image-0


-- Phuket Gazette 2014-05-01

[zaZa9]

Even religion is corrupt on Phuket.

Yes , the 16 out of 16 monks from holy Issan could have never thought of this by themselves...

[stickylies]

them damn Isaan people... u gotta love them!

[Rob8891]

“We cannot allow this to happen in Phuket. It could destroy our tourism image,” Lt Suchart said.

What about the harm to Buddhism's image?.........SURELY that should be his first priority............Ah. Silly me. TiT

[beautifulthailand99]

I often thought that Thailand is positively medieval in many respects and very similar to western power structures just before the reformation. Religion is no different - Henry 8th for his own nefarious reasons saw to the dissolution of the monasteries and one of his humanist scholars Erasmus made some telling observations about the religious orders at the time. Ring any bells !?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissolution_of_the_Monasteries

Erasmus's criticisms of the monks and nuns of his day were threefold;

– that, in withdrawing from the world into their own communal life, they elevated man-made monastic vows of poverty, chastity and obedience above the God-given vows of sacramental baptism; and elevated man-made monastic rules for religious life above the God-given teachings of the Gospels;

– that, notwithstanding exceptional communities of genuine austere life and exemplary charity, the overwhelming majority of abbeys and priories were havens for idle drones; concerned only for their own existence, reserving for themselves an excessive share of the commonwealth's religious assets, and contributing little or nothing to the spiritual needs of ordinary people;

– that the monasteries, almost without exception, were heavily involved in promoting and profiting from the unscriptural and superstitious veneration of relics, in the form of pilgrimages and purported miraculous tokens. The cult of relics was by no means specific to monasteries, but Erasmus was scandalised by the extent to which well-educated and highly regarded monks and nuns would participate in the perpetration of obvious frauds against gullible and credulous lay believers.

Summarising the state of monastic life across Western Europe, David Knowles said;

The verdict of unprejudiced historians at the present day would probably be—abstracting from all ideological considerations for or against monasticism—that there were far too many religious houses in existence in view of the widespread decline of the fervent monastic vocation, and that in every country the monks possessed too much of wealth and of the sources of production both for their own well-being and for the material good of the economy.

Edited May 1, 2014 by beautifulthailand99

[brit1984]

back home all religious leaders are perfect people...

...excluding a few christians that abuse kids and a few muslims that support terrorism of course

[atlbravosfan]

"They said they had traveled to Phuket because they could get good money from local people and tourists wanting to make merit. At home, they said, they had hardly any income."

I thought monks weren't supposed to touch or use money. I have heard this a couple of times.

My first impression of the monks in the picture is that they look tough and dangerous. I remember driving by a wat shortly after I moved to Thailand and seeing a monk leaning against the the archway to the wat, smoking a cigarette. He looked like a hoodlum and had a lot of tattoos. That was an eye-opener. After talking to people about this, I found out that people sometimes become a monk to avoid jail time.

Yeah, don't trust people with tattoos - they are all criminals and hoodlums...

[Som wat]

At least no soi dogs were being shagged like the news report last year.

[healthbkkbkk]

What rehabilitation?

Send them to jail, so they can pray hard, when the inmates ask them to bend over.

Why make such a vulgar comment?

Do you really think they, or anyone, should go to jail for taking drugs?

Do you really wish such suffering on other humans?

[nodomino]

Even religion is corrupt on Phuket.

Where on this planet is it any different?

[issanaus]

Congratulations and thanks to the resident and police. Such actions are to be congratulated because the more "monks" of this type that are exposed and removed the better.

• Seeking cash donation
• Seeking alms after midday
• Eating after midday
• Using substances that lead to mindlessness

Shall we say a major departure from the teaching and vinya

Now the authorities need to follow up by going to the home monasteries and conducting drug/alcohol tests

Let us hope that the disrobed make better use of the opportunities provided by rehab than they did of the teachings that they had

[MobileContent]

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"They said they had traveled to Phuket because they could get good money from local people and tourists wanting to make merit. At home, they said, they had hardly any income."

I thought monks weren't supposed to touch or use money. I have heard this a couple of times.

My first impression of the monks in the picture is that they look tough and dangerous. I remember driving by a wat shortly after I moved to Thailand and seeing a monk leaning against the the archway to the wat, smoking a cigarette. He looked like a hoodlum and had a lot of tattoos. That was an eye-opener. After talking to people about this, I found out that people sometimes become a monk to avoid jail time.

You might be right but having a cigarette is widely accepted and my favourite monk smokes cigarettes and has hundreds of tattoos and he was a hit men 40 years ago. He is now in his 70's and a great monk.

[empireboy]

Even religion is corrupt on Phuket.

All religions is corrupt everywhere!

[retell]

Great gonna be having partys in the temple next week , too bad they cannot order them to a temple in lets say yala

[mochafan]

What rehabilitation?

Send them to jail, so they can pray hard, when the inmates ask them to bend over.

Why make such a vulgar comment?

Do you really think they, or anyone, should go to jail for taking drugs?

Do you really wish such suffering on other humans?

why not? Guys like that (pretending to be monks) should be taught a hard lesson. Mai pen rai just doesn't cut it.

[atyclb]

Even religion is corrupt on Phuket.

Where on this planet is it any different?

Agreed, but can seem in thailand the extent and parade of examples is endless.

[retell]

Even religion is corrupt on Phuket.

Where on this planet is it any different?

Agreed, but can seem in thailand the extent and parade of examples is endless.

The rest of buddist nations cannot be bothered to put it in the news

[ggt]

Even religion is corrupt on Phuket.

Not just in Phuket...the last fortress against moral decay and corruption in Thai culture...is in serious trouble...

[stoneyboy]

Unfortunately like everywhere else in the world religion often hides more crooks than it does good people,this is a nationwide issue,the easy life for some.

[retell]

But where did they get the idea to call it drug parties ? Seems the report only tells about this one incident ,or the guy that owns the garden knows of many more times they have been there but did nothing , or they decided to buy their booze at the store and not from him. that it is what made him file , rat out

[wvavin]

Oh dear, they committed such serious offences and still send them back to their temples? GOOD DECISION!

[Bpuumike]

Unusual for the police to be able to smell alcohol on someone else.