News Forum - Raid finds all monks on drugs in Phetchabun temple

[Thaiger]

Monks behaving badly has become a common trend in Thailand. Reports of monks stealing cars, fighting, and sneaking out for booze and sex have been increasing in recent months. One temple was found to be inhabited by Cambodian illegal immigrants posing as monks and soliciting cash donations to buy drugs. Now one small temple in Phetchabun has been left empty after every single monk was expelled for drug use. The temple, now devoid of any monks, sits in the Bung Sam Phan district of the Northern province. Reports did not mention the exact location or name of the holy site. […]

The story Raid finds all monks on drugs in Phetchabun temple as seen on Thaiger News.

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[HolyCowCm]

Quote: After the drug tests came back positive, the four naughty monks were stripped........ of their status and had no choice but to leave the monkhood.

Well they were also stripped out of their monk clothing too. I wonder if any monk=ey same sex was going on with them as well.

Hard to back monks and temples now with everything coming out of the woodworks with them. Just some rotten eggs tainting the whole system here. 

[Soidog]

Well I’m afraid I’d have to be on drugs to live a life like those guys. I do wonder if as they get older and reach their final few years if they ever ask themselves “What the F..k have I done”? 
 

I wonder if they were real monks or the one week wonders? 

[Loong]

2 hours ago, Soidog said:

Well I’m afraid I’d have to be on drugs to live a life like those guys. I do wonder if as they get older and reach their final few years if they ever ask themselves “What the F..k have I done”? 
 

I wonder if they were real monks or the one week wonders? 

My ex's brother is a monk. He does minimal work, has no bills to pay and gets fed. He also manages the odd occasion where he visits another district and forgets his robes, if you know what I mean.
His income is much higher than it would be if he worked for a living and that would involve hard work!

My ex paid his money into the bank for him (sometimes I did). It was useful to me as I could change his small money with my thousand baht notes as they can be difficult to change at times. In a poor month he would deposit 20 K baht. Many people don't earn even near that and saving that amount can only be a pipe dream. He's been a monk for about 20 years now.

I can understand why they choose to live that life.

[kalyan]

It is the people of Thailand who brought this problem, Buddha was a teacher, and worship is for him, not for the Buddhist monks at a temple.

At this point I would like to say that not all Buddhist monks can become better teachers, For example in a school, we have staff, janitors, administrators, clerks, security guards, and teachers.  These teachers are identified clearly and will impart teachings, of Buddhism.  People need to identify or the Buddhist committee needs to identify it clearly.

[palooka]

7 hours ago, Soidog said:

Well I’m afraid I’d have to be on drugs to live a life like those guys. I do wonder if as they get older and reach their final few years if they ever ask themselves “What the F..k have I done”? 
 

I wonder if they were real monks or the one week wonders? 

Went to a temple in Sa Kaeo on the weekend that was celebrating the life of a monk who is 111 years old, 111 monks showed up to help celebrate with thousand or so locals, so guess he doesn't qualify for the one week wonder and is genuine, or maybe he forgot to leave at the end of the first week. 

[Bluesofa]

20 hours ago, Soidog said:

I wonder if they were real monks or the one week wonders? 

Perhaps the spelling should be 'weak', not 'week'.

 

13 hours ago, kalyan said:

It is the people of Thailand who brought this problem, Buddha was a teacher, and worship is for him, not for the Buddhist monks at a temple.

Buddha specifically told people that he wasn't a deity, and not to worship him as one, but to follow his teachings to improve themselves.

[HiuMak]

Come on temples are meant to be harbour struggling souls and drugs are meant to heal their pain and for medicinal purposes.

[Cabra]

19 hours ago, kalyan said:

It is the people of Thailand who brought this problem, Buddha was a teacher, and worship is for him, not for the Buddhist monks at a temple.

At this point I would like to say that not all Buddhist monks can become better teachers, For example in a school, we have staff, janitors, administrators, clerks, security guards, and teachers.  These teachers are identified clearly and will impart teachings, of Buddhism.  People need to identify or the Buddhist committee needs to identify it clearly.

The monastic crisis that Thailand is suffering really started when Chulalongkorn changed the rules around how monks get appointed, trained and monitored. Sangha reform is urgently needed or this problem will continue to get worse. It's a pity. As a believe system and philosophy Buddhism is a beautiful thing. And while there are still good monks serving, there are just too many that are frankly out of control. 

[HolyCowCm]

This story actually made world news. Saw it today. But it also goes into the monk that was high and stole a vehicle too. Great news for Thailand.

[Bluesofa]

1 hour ago, HolyCowCm said:

This story actually made world news. Saw it today. But it also goes into the monk that was high and stole a vehicle too. Great news for Thailand.

It wasn't an Isuzu Hi-Lander was it?

[Bluesofa]

2 hours ago, Cabra said:

The monastic crisis that Thailand is suffering really started when Chulalongkorn changed the rules around how monks get appointed, trained and monitored. Sangha reform is urgently needed or this problem will continue to get worse. It's a pity. As a believe system and philosophy Buddhism is a beautiful thing. And while there are still good monks serving, there are just too many that are frankly out of control. 

Could you briefly explain what rules were changed, and how it affected things?

[Cabra]

16 hours ago, Bluesofa said:

Could you briefly explain what rules were changed, and how it affected things?

It use to be that monks ranks (novice through abbot) where granted by the local community. Now this is done by royal appointment. It takes the local people out of the process... the same people who frankly have the most interest and knowledge about who should be involved in the (their) temples. Recruitment, training (there is only 1 preceptor in each tambon responsible for 100s of monks) and education (being too focused on memorization; monks cheating on exams) are all affected. The clergy is too close to the state, and distant from the local community/society. If you want to learn more google sangha reform.