Thai Buddhist monks at temple test positive for methamphetamine: report

Four Buddhist monks in Thailand have been sent to rehab after testing positive for methamphetamine, according to reports.

The monks, including the abbot of a temple in Bung Sam Phan district of Phetchabun province, tested positive for the drug on Monday, Thai officials told Agence France-Presse.

THAI AIRWAYS OFFERS ‘FLIGHT TO NOWHERE’ THAT WILL FLY OVER SACRED BUDDHIST SITES

Buddhist monks from the Dhammakaya sect sit in anticipation of a police raid outside the temple of the Dhammakaya sect in Pathum Thani, north of Bangkok, Thailand. Four Thai Buddhist monks have been sent to rehab after testing positive for methamphetamine, according to reports.
(The Associated Press)

“The temple is now empty of monks and the nearby villagers are worried that they cannot do any merit,” said the official, Boonlert Thintapthai.

Merit creation is a Buddhist practice in which followers donate food to monks as a good deed. More monks will be sent to the temple to resume operations inside.

Thailand is a major drug transit point for methamphetamine from neighboring Myanmar, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime said.