Buddhist temple left empty after all monks were drug tested

Local officials said a small Buddhist temple in Thailand was left empty after all monks failed drug tests.

A local official, Boonlert Thintapthai, told AFP news agency that four monks, including the abbot, tested positive for methamphetamine in the Bung Sam Phan district of Phetchabun province in the north of the country.

The priests were due to be expelled from the temple on Monday, 28/11, after police subjected them to urine toxicological tests. However, officials did not say what drew attention to the temple.

The operation took place in the midst of a national campaign to combat drug trafficking.

Thintapthai claimed that the monks were then sent to a clinic to undergo a drug rehabilitation program.

“The temple is currently empty, there are no monks, and the locals are worried that they will not receive any value,” he told AFP.

Earning merit is an important Buddhist practice in which devotees gain protective power through good works – in this case by giving food to monks.

Thintapthai said district officials sought help from the local monastery head, who promised to appoint new monks to the temple to address the concerns of the worshipers.

Methamphetamine has become a huge problem in Thailand in recent years, with drug seizures hitting an all-time high in 2021, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

The country is an important transit point for methamphetamine. The drug comes to the country from Myanmar, the world’s largest producer of methamphetamine, via Laos.

The pills are then sold on the streets for around 50 Baht (US$1.40).

Last month, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha ordered drastic measures against drugs after a former police officer fired for possession of methamphetamine killed 37 people during a nursery massacre.

– This text was published at https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/geral-63792333.