Thai authorities detain firebrand Buddhist monk who attacked Muslims and called for mosques to be burned

Thai authorities have detained a Buddhist monk who has posted online videos that harshly denounce Islam.

Apichart Punnajanto, was detained on Tuesday by officers from the Crime Suppression Division, said police Colonel Dusit Promsin in the southern province of Songkhla.

Dusit said the monk was taken into custody because of videos he had posted online, though he did not describe the content.

Thai media published images of temple records indicating Apichart was defrocked on Wednesday night at a temple in Bangkok.

Sunai Phasuk, senior researcher on Thailand for Human Rights Watch, criticised the detention in a Twitter post. He said it was more proof that under the ruling military junta, “everyone risks becoming a victim of freewheeling uses of power, secret detainments, and unlawful prosecutions”.

Thailand has been ruled by the military since a 2014 coup toppled a democratically elected government, and the junta has made clear it does tolerates no dissent.