The Buddhist temple in central Thailand is left without monks after all its holy men failed drug tests and were defrocked. Four monks including an abbot at a temple in Phetchabun province Bung Sam Phan district tested positive for methamphetamine on Monday, district official Boonlert Thintapthai told AFP.
The monks have been sent to a health clinic to undergo drug rehabilitation, the official said. “The temple is now empty of monks and nearby villagers are concerned they will not be able to perform religious rituals and ceremonies,” Boonlert said.
The district is famous for its production of the drug ya baa, which has similar effects to amphetamines. Phetchabun province governor Nikorn Prasarnphan told AFP that police were investigating how the monks got hold of drugs.
The monks have been sent to a health clinic to undergo drug rehabilitation, the official said. “The temple is now empty of monks and nearby villagers are concerned they cannot do any merit-making,” he said. Merit-making involves worshippers donating food to monks as a good deed.
“We can only speculate that they were involved in drug trafficking or distribution, “he said. “We have never seen anything like this in Phetchabun before, “he added. “Drugs are certainly not something that we associate with monks.
“The discovery was made on Wednesday when police raided the temple in response to a tip-off from villagers, who suspected the monks were involved in illegal activities.