Thailand temple stands down Buddhist monks after positive methamphetamine tests

The monks were busted after a urine test. Photo / 123RF/File

An entire temple of Buddhist monks in Thailand has been stood down and sent to rehab after they tested positive for methamphetamine.

All four holy men at the temple in Phetchabun, including the abbot, were caught after taking mandatory urine tests, AFP reports.

Local official Boonlert Thintapthai said that replacement monks would be drafted in because the empty temple was preventing locals from taking part in important rituals.

“Temple is now empty of monks and nearby villagers are concerned they cannot do any merit-making,” Thintapthai said.

Merit-making is an important Buddhist ritual that involves devotees doing good deeds, such as gifting food to monks, to gain a protective force.

Over the past two decades, easily manufactured methamphetamine has replaced opium and heroin as the dominant illegal drug in the region.

Methamphetamine is smuggled across much of Southeast Asia, China and Australia, part of a multibillion-dollar illegal trade in the drug.

The Golden Triangle, a remote jungle area where the borders of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand meet, was once a major source of the world’s opium and heroin. In recent years it has become a major source of methamphetamine.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime said in 2020 that the value of the methamphetamine market in Asia is more than US$60 billion.

- Additional reporting, AP