After failing drug tests and being evicted, a Thai monastery is now without any monks. According to the Bangkok Post, four monks, including the abbot, were expelled from the monkhood after they tested positive for methamphetamine.
Police and health officials conducted a raid on the small religious site in the province of Phetchabun on Monday.
The local population, which depends on the monks for religious activities, has expressed dismay over the monks’ departure. Concerns have also been raised about what would happen to a number of cats and dogs that also reside in the monastery.
The district’s monastic chief has been contacted, and he has agreed to send some monks to the temple, according to district officials.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime claims that Thailand is a major transit country for the methamphetamine that enters the country via Laos from Myanmar’s unstable Shan state.
The majority producer of methamphetamine in the world, Myanmar, exports drugs to the country via Laos.
Pills can be purchased for less than 20 baht (about $0.50) on the streets of Thailand.
In recent years, authorities in Southeast Asia have seized unprecedented amounts of meth. 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.
In the meantime, as limitations have been eased, there has been a rapid increase in the number of foreign tourists visiting Thailand. It has, however, brought with it its own bad, as the island has seen a rise in Covid-19 cases. According to a Bloomberg report, during the week ending November 26th, 702 Covid patients were admitted to hospitals on average each day.
According to the report, a total of 74 persons passed away over the time period, up from 40 during the week ending on November 5. The Thai Health Ministry reports that since the beginning of November, the number of Covid patients has nearly doubled.
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