Buddhist monk in Thailand found drunk and passed out while exposed inside temple on Thai New Year

April 14, 2022

A Buddhist monk in Thailand drew criticism after local villagers found him drunkenly passed out and exposed in the local temple.

The 50-year-old monk, an unnamed former policeman, was found lying down on the balcony of a Buddhist temple in the Thai province of Nakhon Ratchasima on Tuesday afternoon.

Villagers found the monk fully exposed and surrounded by energy drinks and a bottle of Thai rice whisky with 40% alcohol content in his room.

They eventually brought his elderly mother to the temple to wake him up. After being scolded by his mother, the monk got in a pickup truck and drove away.

The monk, who reportedly had gotten drunk while celebrating the Thai New Year, found nothing wrong with the incident. While he admitted to getting intoxicated, he does not consider alcohol a problem and argued that he didn’t cause harm to others while under the influence.

Among the 227 rules that Buddhist monks in Thailand must follow, however, is the requirement that they cease drinking alcohol or becoming intoxicated by any means. Monks in Thailand are also not allowed to hold a driver’s license.

He has been ordained as a monk for four years now but has reportedly displayed similar behavior in the past, according to the villagers.

Elders in the village previously advised the monk to abandon his monkhood. They reportedly gathered evidence in the form of photos and videos of the most recent incident in an effort to request his monkhood be revoked.

Featured Image via เรื่องเล่าเช้านี้

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