Monks On Horses

[jozef]

Where are they located?

[Joel Barlow]

Dunno

where did you hear of them?

Santikiri?doiMae Salong area maybe?

or try turning east off Superhwy at Tha Khao Pluak - there's this huge Chinese monastery

or maybe even the martial arts monk, trun north at the police box at Mae Salong Nigh?

[redbicycle]

Where are they located?

Its in mae chan, the temple name call Wat pa ah cha tong, the temple is on the mountain where they got lots of horse, on week end they have thai boxing by the monks too. Just go atround mae chan and you will see lot of sign pa ah cha tong and follow the sign.

[Limbo]

.... or maybe even the martial arts monk, trun north at the police box at Mae Salong Nigh?

I think indeed it is this place Jozef has in mind.

He oversees however one detail and that is the fact that monks in Thailand are not supposed to ride bicycles, horses or even to drive a car and actually seem to obide by that rule.

So the only right answer to his question about the location of monks on horses would simply be:

Nowhere! At least not in Thailand. Burma is another story.

The 'martial arts monk' runs his remarcable place within the framework of helping young kids to stay away from drugs.

The 'monks' Jozef expects to see on horses are nothing more (or less) than 'nen' and 'dek wat'.

Young drop-outs, orphans and children from broken homes.

The monk is a former muay-thai boxer and teaches the kids to box and to ride horses to develop selfdiscipline and -respect.

Many foreigners refer to 'nen' as 'little monks'. They aren't. Most of them are children dropped at a temple because of the poverty of their family. Especially during school holidays many poor people 'park' their children temporary in temples. There they have food and in some cases even the possibility to learn something.

The 'dek wat' can be of all ages. They can be impoverished, have a criminal past or be mentally retarded.

Dear Jozef, as an enthousiast bicyclist I can recommend the following trip:

After Maechan, in Ban Pasang, you take the road to the left leading to Doi Mae Salong and Thoed Thai.

After about seven or eight kilometers you will see a police-box at your right .

Don't miss it, because it is exactly where a beautiful descent (a crime in the other direction) reaches it's lowest point, so your speed might be high. Take to the right at this box.

After a couple of kilometers you will see at your left a couple of hundred meters away the dust caused by the process of 'eating the mountain' and you will hear the sound of the stone-cross-machines. Go there and you will see a steep dirtroad immediatly next to it.

Climb it and some kilometers further you will reach the hill on top of which you will find your monk.

Do yourself a pleasure and continue your trip. You will pass through an amazing beautiful landscape and eventually end up at the superhighway a couple of hundred meters before the road to Doi Tung.

Dear Joel, do you happen to know if the beautiful Buddha images, carved in the rocks close to the stone guarry (probably made there in the hope to protect the mountains) are completely overgrown now?

Limbo

[Limbo]

Its in mae chan, the temple name call Wat pa ah cha tong, the temple is on the mountain where they got lots of horse, on week end they have thai boxing by the monks too. Just go atround mae chan and you will see lot of sign pa ah cha tong and follow the sign.

Thanks redbicycle. You posted while I was writing. I haven't been there for a couple of years.

There weren't signs before, so I'm afraid I made things more complicated than they are.

Limbo

[jozef]

Thank you all for the information,a time ago they give it on national geographic, so they must exist and it was in Thailand.

[Thaising]

Yes, monks riding horse do exist in chiang rai and the temple are right deep on the mountain, these little monks would ride their horses every morning for Bin-the-butt. Ask local folks, and they were point you to the actual temple location, to go there you need a four wheels drive.

[Joel Barlow]

Sorry Limbo - never saw them. Does anyone know if Farang can study martial arts with the monks there?

[chownah]

It is my understanding that 'nens' are sort of like monks in training who are under a certain age.....if you are training to be a monk and you are over that age then there is another term for this. Not all 'nens' have the intention to become monks and this is well known by everyone involved but not considered to be an issue. It is my understanding that 'nens' are not required to follow all of the precepts that monks follow so perhaps this is why they seemingly are allowed to ride horses. A precept is a rule of conduct. 'Nens' do wear orange robes (at least some do...but I'm not sure if all of them do) so it is not surprising that they are thought of as monks (at least by westerners who don't know any better) even though they are not.

Edited July 11, 2006 by chownah

[little_muppet]

nens is use to call for young monk (below 18ys) when nen grow up (over 18 )they call them Pra....

.... and monks on the horses is exist in CR, they have to use horse coz from their temple to village is too far with difficult road...

[Limbo]

nens is use to call for young monk (below 18ys) when nen grow up (over 18 )they call them Pra....

.... and monks on the horses is exist in CR, they have to use horse coz from their temple to village is too far with difficult road...

Thanks unknown_user for correcting me!

I had the information that monks were not allowed to ride bicycles, motorbikes or horses, or drive cars, please note, actually of a monk.

When the Dutch Bikkhu visited me he looked at my motorcycle and said "I wished I could make a little tour on that one, but I can't". When he stayed in forest temples he mostly walked to the nearest village or town and took a tuktuk or motorcycle taxi back with the donations he got.

There are always funny people who give the monk a watermelon and even more funny people who give him a second one. It happened to him and he just hoped nobody would give him a third one, because he has problems with his back.

So the next question is: Where are the monks on bicycles?

Limbo

[flupke]

So the next question is: Where are the monks on bicycles?

Limbo

interesting topic , unseen chiang rai

so monks cannot ride a bike ?

like many bikers , i am still in monktraining : biking sure can make me feel quite ' zen ' , maybe just a chemical reaction , haven ' t tried horseriding yet , no place where i can ' t come with a mountainbike

so dear Limbo : every biker is a bit of a monk in disguise

please check it out jozef

anyone have a picture ?

i have the same question Joel : Does anyone know if Farang can study martial arts with the monks there ?

[little_muppet]

..I have seen nens ride dek wat's bike in a temple..the head monk and ppl know but they only behaving like other kids so the rule can be flexible... but not allow to ride outside the temple.. but monk on bike,,, i have never seen(only monk sit behide the bike). i think they r adult to know the rules now so as they decided to be a monk they should decided to forget about the bike...

[redbicycle]

nens is use to call for young monk (below 18ys) when nen grow up (over 18 )they call them Pra....

.... and monks on the horses is exist in CR, they have to use horse coz from their temple to village is too far with difficult road...

Thanks unknown_user for correcting me!

I had the information that monks were not allowed to ride bicycles, motorbikes or horses, or drive cars, please note, actually of a monk.

When the Dutch Bikkhu visited me he looked at my motorcycle and said "I wished I could make a little tour on that one, but I can't". When he stayed in forest temples he mostly walked to the nearest village or town and took a tuktuk or motorcycle taxi back with the donations he got.

There are always funny people who give the monk a watermelon and even more funny people who give him a second one. It happened to him and he just hoped nobody would give him a third one, because he has problems with his back.

So the next question is: Where are the monks on bicycles?

Limbo

Can monks play games ?? i saw some monks playing play station in huai krai yesteray ..... and can monks stay in air con room ??

[little_muppet]

actually they cant... monk have to be out of normal people world..no TV no phone no radio no game ...but the world is changing everyday...look at the past..monk are only use candle for Kawphansa day... but nowsaday they use Neon-light...

[sabaijai]

Actually there is nothing in the Vinaya that says monks can't ride bicycles or horses or drive cars. There is a prohibition on owning vehicles of any kind.

Vinaya/Monastic Precepts

Part II

[Limbo]

I just got the information that there will be the 'premiere' of a new Thai movie in the Netherlands this week. It is called 'Buddha's Lost Children' and it would tell the story of the little monks of Wat Maa Tong (the golden horse temple).

Does anybody know the Thai title and did the movie already show up in the shops?

Limbo

I am confused about the name of the temple. Redbicycle names it 'Wat Pa Ah Cha Tong' and the movie calls it 'Wat Maa Tong'.

As both temples are supposed to be in Maechan I suppose it would be the same one.

An explanation could be that changing the name gave the moviemakers more freedom to improvise

Edited September 5, 2006 by Limbo

[Limbo]

A powerful true account of one man's bold crusade

to save the lost souls of the Golden Triangle.

“Before I was just a soldier of Thailand.

Now I am a soldier of all the world’s people.

Now, I fight against lies, theft, hate and violence.”

Abbot Phra Khru Ba

Set high among the limestone crags and bamboo thickets of Thailand’s northern border with Burma, a Buddhist monk is waging a unique battle to save the children here from the curse of drugs and corruption.

Thailand has among the highest level of drug abuse in the world, and for years the ‘Golden Triangle’ has been a world centre for the supply of opium and high-grade heroin. This border region between Myanmar, Thailand and Laos is one of the most dangerous and inhospitable regions in the world. The activities of the drug lords, combined with the effects of government anti-drug campaigns, have left hundreds dead in the region and thousands of children homeless, abandoned to their fate.

Yet in this brutal world lies an oasis of peace, the monastery of The Golden Horse, home to Phra Khru Ba or ‘The Tiger Monk’ as he is better known. Once a soldier and champion Thai boxer, Phra Khru Ba now devotes his life to the teachings of the Buddha.

From the makers of the movie, it is a Dutch dramatized documentary.

Limbo

[my friend I]

Buddhas lost children is out now for international release

[sceadugenga]

Strange indeed but I was looking through some old photos this morning and there in a pic of some Lao people near Vientiane is what could only be a Monk on a bike in the background.

[konjianghai]

http://www.tourismchiangrai.com/cr/thampa_archathong/

The information are in Thai.

The temple address is at Ban Mae Khum, Tumbol Sri Khum, Amphur Mae Jun, Chiang Rai.

Every morning the monks are coming to Larnprakaew for food offerings from 7.00-7.30 and if its crowded they are staying up till 8.00 pm.

Dont forget when offering food you need to take off your shoes (you can step on your own shoes why standing for blessing). I seems to see that foreigners dont know about this while they do the merit.