BUDDHIST LENT
POST REPORTERS
Outspoken monk Phra Payom Kalayano drives a `Khao Pansa Day: the national day for no alcohol drinking' flag into a July calendar, which records the road accident toll in the neighbourhood of Wat Suan Kaew in Nonthaburi. |
Police yesterday arrested two monks in two separate provinces who were caught drinking alcohol on Buddhist Lent, which cabinet declared an alcohol-free day.
Phra Palwisit Payawalo, 31, was caught in Wat Dhamma Pratheep in Surat Thani's Phunphin district after a villager complained about loud noise from the temple.
Ignoring the ongoing campaign against drinking alcohol during Buddhist Lent, Phra Palwisit told police he was only "celebrating the temple's ceremony for Asarnha Bucha day".
This special day reminds Buddhists of the first appearance of a monk, a disciple of the Lord Buddha, and is usually one day before the Buddhist Lent period, which lasts three months. Monks are not supposed to drink.
Villagers said they believed Phra Palwisit drank alcohol with men from the temple regularly, as there had been many problems with noise around the temple at night, but they had never had evidence to arrest him in the past.
A second monk was arrested in Pathum Thani's Thanyaburi district when a railway official told police he spotted the monk drinking alcohol with a woman near the railway tracks in the Rangsit area.
Phra Somporn Tapasilo, 59, fled and hid in a nearby toilet when he saw police. However, he was later detained and disrobed.
The monk, who had been ordained at a temple in Saraburi, admitted he often came and stayed at a house belonging to Lek Buakaew, 35.
Ms Lek and Phra Somporn often drank beer and liquor together, he admitted.
"We drank almost every day when I stayed here," the monk said of their evening activities.
Drinking alcohol is prohibited in Buddhist monks' 227 precepts. Breaking those vows is considered a serious offence and leads to disrobing - being expelled from the monkhood.
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