A Thai abbey’s four Buddhist monks have been defrocked, dismissed, and sent to rehab after they were all found to have taken methamphetamine when police sprung a test on them.
It means the small temple in Phetchabun province's Bung Sam Phan district has now lost its entire cohort of monks in one fell swoop. It is unclear why police tested them for meth on Monday, but the force reported the four - including their leader - failed a urine exam.
The monks were then sent to a clinic to undergo drug rehabilitation, with it being locally reported they would be replaced at the temple.
A Thai custom is for residents to take part in “merit making,” which is to give food to the monks as a good deed, and the replacement of the monks will allow this to continue.
It follows several other high-profile arrests and scandals related to Thai Buddhism in the past few years that have rocked the reputation of the leaders of the faith. Around 93 per cent of the country’s 70 million population is Buddhist and there are around 300,000 monks.
The police’s action comes alongside a broader national campaign to tackle the transport of drugs, an issue which has been happening across several south east Asian countries in the past two years.
It has become a hotspot for the trade because of its geography within the so-called ‘golden triangle’, where the access between Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar allows deals to thrive.
Record-breaking quantities of both crystal methamphetamine and meth pills have been bought and sold within the region since the Myanmar coup in 2021 - which has seen the country lose a grip on its domestic affairs.
