Page 3 - Sam Phan News Today

A Buddhist temple in central Thailand has been left without monks after all its holy men failed drug tests and were defrocked, a local official said Tuesday.

Four monks including an abbot at a temple in Phetchabun provinces Bung Sam Phan district tested positive for methamphetamine on Monday, district official Boonlert Thintapthai told AFP.

A Buddhist temple in central Thailand has been left without monks after all its holy men failed drug tests and were defrocked, a local official said Tuesday.

Thailand is a major transit country for methamphetamine flooding in from Myanmar’s Shan state via Laos, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

While many people visit temples and places of worship to experience spiritual and mental peace, monks of a certain temple in Thailand have been found guilty of drug abuse and were defrocked, as per AFP reports.

Local officials said four monks, including the abbot, tested positive for methamphetamine.

When patients arrive, they are searched and any drugs found are confiscated. All electronic devices and money must be surrendered to begin the rehabilitation process

"The temple is now empty of monks and nearby villagers are concerned they cannot do any merit-making," an official said.

The small temple in central Thailand was forced to defrock its holy men after they tested positive for methamphetamine. All four of the monks returned positive drug tests (Not pictured. File image).

A Buddhist temple in central Thailand has been left without monks after all its holy men failed drug tests and were defrocked, a local official said Tuesday.