Methylated Monks

In a tale that shows just how pernicious the drug trade has become ....

The Drugs Seized From Monk Arsara,
In Northern Rakhine State, Myanmar In 2017

.... its been reported that even Buddhist monks are not immune from the influences of the drug trade.

We have all seen Father Jack Hackett with his alcohol addiction in Father Ted (If you haven't seen this programme you have missed a real treat), but this story is an issue on a far bigger scale. 

Father Jacks Drug Of Choice Was Alcohol

The BBC reported that a small Buddhist monastery in the province of Phetchabun in Northern Thailand, was left without any monks, after the Thai police raided the property and arrested every one of the monks, including the Abbot, presumably after a tip off. 

They had all tested positive for the drug methamphetamine. To have one monk as a drug addict might be expected in these times, but to find all the monks and abbot using the drug was still highly unusual. A police spokesman confirmed that "The temple is now empty of monks, and nearby villagers are concerned they cannot do any merit-making."

They gain spiritual merit via good deeds, which previously they could most easily achieve via feeding the monks with free food. All the monks were sent to a rehabilitation clinic to dry out, but as this could take some time, so a local regional monastic leader promised to send new monks to the small temple. 

And just in case you think that this might be an isolated example .... in Myanmar (Burma), a Buddhist monk named only as Arsara was arrested in 2017 (See Top Picture), after being found to be involved in hiding a massive four million methamphetamine pills in a Buddhist monastery in Rakhine state, and also had 400,000 pills in his car worth about $9.2m (£7.3m in 2017). 

In March 2022 Luang Pu Tuanchai, a monk who was famous after claiming to have omniscient powers, was charged with drunk driving and drug possession. He had run a red light in his truck, and when chased down by police, he was found to not only have excessive blood alcohol level, but also dozens of methamphetamine pills in the pick-up. He was promptly disrobed. Earlier in January 2022, another monk was similarly disrobed after also being caught, both consuming methamphetamine pills and also selling them to local teens.

In 2020 another senior Thai monk was arrested when during a search, police discovered 4.8 million methamphetamine pills in a minivan used by the monk and his accomplices, officials also found a handgun with 14 bullets. The monk claimed that his role was to just sit in the cab of the van to distract police from the drug dealers for which he was paid 300,000 Baht (US$10,000) per delivery, and that he had made two runs prior to his arrest.

In 2018, a monk at a temple in the North Eastern province of Kalasin, was arrested when police found 8,400 red speed pills packed in plastic packets, in addition to some crystal-meth, some packets of marijuana, and three handguns. The monk’s flashy BMW car was also seized ... he was also found to be using drugs (as well as selling or couriering), along with other monks in their living quarters .... it was later found that he was a major dealer who had joined the monk-hood to cover his activities. He was later disrobed and expelled from his monastery.

In 2017, a 35-year-old Buddhist monk was defrocked, after he was discovered to be in possession of speed pills, during a love tryst with a 19-year-old woman in a love motel on Valentine’s Day. The monk, was still in his saffron-colored robes, when he was spotted entering the motel at night and officials decided to see what he was doing there. He tested positive for narcotics, and was subsequently expelled from the monk-hood. 

Much of the problem lies within the Sanga (Monasteries),where a lot of young men end up, after being placed there by their parents who can't afford to keep them, and who also gain merit by having a son become a monk. These boys are not there by conviction, and money, drugs and sex are great temptations, that they are finding ever harder to resist

During the mid-2010s, Cambodia saw a wave of sexual assault and drug trafficking scandals related to monks, as did Myanmar and Thailand. The sheer volume of drugs entering the region, particularly Meth related drugs such as crystal-meth and methamphetamine are destabilising societies that had previously been stable for decades and centuries.