Thai Buddhist authority warns monks against lavish behaviour

Thailand's national Buddhism body said it was monitoring monks nationwide for any inappropriate behaviour following complaints ignited by a video showing Buddhist monks on a private jet.

The YouTube video emerging recently showed one of the monks was wearing stylish aviator sunglasses, carrying a brand name travel bag and sporting a pair of modern-looking wireless headphones. It attracted criticism from Buddhists nationwide.

Nopparat Benjawatananun, director-general of the Office of National Buddhism, said yesterday that the agency saw the video early this year and had warned the monks from a monastery in Thailand's northeast not to repeat the lavish behaviour.

A country with the world's largest Buddhist population, Thailand has attempted to help Buddha's 2,600-year-old doctrine stand the test of time through a variety of means, including imposing a ban on the sale of alcohol on religious holidays. The efforts, however, are sometimes tainted by the Buddhist monks themselves.

Last year, about 300 out of 61,416 Buddhist monks and novices in Thailand were reprimanded — in several cases removed from the monkhood — because of misconduct ranging from alcohol consumption, having sex with women, to extortion. The Office also received complaints about monks driving cars, and scams and false claims of black magic uses by monks.

Nopparat said the Buddhist monks in the video were acting "inappropriately, not composed and not adhering to Buddha's teachings of simplicity and self-restraint."