Summary More than 30 Thai monks have been defrocked for illegal drug use, an official said Wednesday.
BANGKOK - More than 30 Thai monks have been defrocked for illegal drug use, an official said Wednesday, in the latest scandal to hit the kingdom s Buddhist clergy.
One abbot was charged with drug trafficking after urine tests showed the 31 monks -- from several dozen monasteries in the Ban Mo district of Saraburi province -- had used methamphetamine.
"Villagers have frequently complained of suspicious gatherings in temples and most of them are drug users or people involved with drugs," said a local government official who did not want to be named.
Those who undergo rehabilitation and stop using drugs will be allowed to re-enter the monkhood, he added.
Thailand s Buddhist clergy has been hit by a series of scandals, with local media reporting cases of drug-taking, drinking, gambling and visiting prostitutes.
Recent footage of three monks flying in a private jet with sunglasses and a Louis Vuitton luxury bag sparked a furore in the Buddhist-dominated country.
One of the trio, Luang Pu Nen Kham, is also being investigated on suspicion of an array of offences including sex with a minor, tax evasion, drug possession and money laundering, according to the Justice Ministry s Department of Special Investigation.
He is now overseas although his exact whereabouts are unclear. Buddhist authorities said they would ask the Thai foreign ministry to revoke his passport.
