The inspection showed that four monks, including the abbot, were using methamphetamine – they were sent to a clinic for addiction treatment.
A small Buddhist temple in northern Thailand was left without a monk after being tested for drugs. Tests showed that four monks, including the abbot of the temple, used methamphetamine. The BBC writes about it, based on data from the AFP agency.
The incident occurred at a temple in Phetchabun province in northern Thailand. It is known that at this time monks were sent for rehabilitation from drug addiction to the clinic.
According to journalists, drug testing in Thailand is being conducted against the backdrop of a major campaign to combat illicit drug trafficking. The priests were expelled from the temple on Monday (November 28th) after police conducted a urine test that showed all four people had used methamphetamine. Authorities did not specify what exactly drew their attention to the temple in a statement to the agency.
At the same time, the performance of any rituals in the temple was suspended due to the absence of monks in it. District officials sought help from the head of the local monastery, who promised to appoint several new monks to the temple in the area to solve the problems of the parishioners.
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, methamphetamine has become a major problem in Thailand in recent years, with drug seizures reaching record levels in 2021. The country is a major transit point for methamphetamine – the drug streams the country from Myanmar, the world’s largest methamphetamine-producing state, through Laos.
The substance is then sold on the streets in tablet form for around 50 baht (52 hryvnia in exchange rate). In October, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha ordered a drug ban after a former police officer fired from the police force for possession of methamphetamine killed 37 people at a kindergarten. Among the victims are more than 20 children.
Recall, last year’s research showed that fish and other inhabitants of rivers “bind” to methamphetamine in drug-contaminated reservoirs.
Source: Focus
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