Thai monks who test positive for drugs abandon the temple

• According to local authorities, a small Buddhist temple in Thailand is now without any monks after they were all expelled for failing drug tests.
• In the northern province of Phetchabun, four monks, including the abbot, tested positive for methamphetamine, an official told the news agency.
• The raid occurs in the midst of a nationwide effort to combat drug trafficking.

According to local authorities, a small Buddhist temple in Thailand is now without any monks after they were all expelled for failing drug tests.

In the northern province of Phetchabun, four monks, including the abbot, tested positive for methamphetamine, an official told the news agency.

The monks were subsequently taken to a medical facility for drug rehabilitation, according to Boonlert Thintapthai.

The raid occurs in the midst of a nationwide effort to combat drug trafficking.

According to reports, the monks were expelled from the monastery after all four men failed urine tests that were conducted by the police on Monday. The reason the temple was brought to the police’s attention was not disclosed by officials.

The “temple is now empty of monks and local villagers are worried they cannot perform any merit-making,” Mr. Thintapthai told AFP.

Giving food to monks is a kind of merit-making, an important Buddhist practice where worshipers obtain protecting energy through good deeds.

However, Mr. Thintapthai claimed that the local monastic chief had been consulted by regional officials, who had pledged to send some new monks to the temple in the Bung Sam Phan area in an effort to allay the anxieties of devotees.

According to the UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime, methamphetamine has recently become a significant problem in Thailand, with drug seizures expected to hit an all-time high in 2021.

The nation serves as a key hub for the transportation of meth. The majority producer of methamphetamine in the world, Myanmar, exports drugs to the nation via Laos.

The tablets are subsequently offered for sale on the streets for about 50 Baht (£0.47) each.

Following the murder of 37 people at a nursery by a former police officer who had been fired for possessing methamphetamine, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha announced a crackdown on drugs last month.

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