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Thailand temple left empty after all its monks fail drug tests
- Four monks including an abbot at a temple in central Thailand tested positive for methamphetamine, a district official said
- Thailand is a major transit country for methamphetamine flooding in from Myanmar’s Shan state via Laos, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime
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A Buddhist temple in central Thailand has been left without monks after all its holy men failed drug tests and were defrocked, a local official said Tuesday.
Four monks including an abbot at a temple in Phetchabun province’s Bung Sam Phan district tested positive for methamphetamine on Monday, district official Boonlert Thintapthai said.
The monks were sent to a health clinic to undergo drug rehabilitation, the official said.
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“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.
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Boonlert said more monks will be sent to the temple to allow villagers to practise their religious obligations.
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