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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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Four monks including an abbot at a temple in Phetchabun province’s Bung Sam Phan district tested positive for methamphetamine on Monday. Photo: AFP
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.

“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.

Boonlert said more monks will be sent to the temple to allow villagers to practise their religious obligations.

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