In this file photo taken on March 23, 2020 A Buddhist monk sorts salvaged plastic bottles to be recycled into monks’ robes and face masks, amid concerns over the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, at Wat Chak Daeng Buddhist temple in Samut Prakan on March 23, 2020.(Photo by Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP)
A senior Buddhist monk caused outrage in Thailand after a woman was found in his quarters at his temple in Samut Prakan, a province neighboring Bangkok.
The woman was discovered hiding under stairs after scores of residents in a local community, angered by the monk’s alleged impropriety, tried to force their way into his quarters on the night of Feb. 9.
The 65-year-old monk called Phra Samut Prasartporn Mahapunyo, who served as the abbot of a local temple, is alleged to have conducted an illicit affair with the woman, which is against his monastic vows as monks are required to remain celibate.
His affair came to light after scores of villagers decided to take matters into their own hands when they saw a woman enter the monk’s two-story residence and confronted the monk about it.
A large crowd gathered at the site, demanding answers, but the abbot refused to open the door and police were called to the scene.
The abbot insisted he had no woman with him and showed the police and some villagers around his quarters.
Some of the visitors spotted an elastic hairband on his bed, but the monk said he had been using the black headband to relieve his headaches and proceeded to demonstrate by putting it on his head.
However, people also noticed a blue bra lying on the floor under the stairs on the ground floor near a rack from which hung the abbot’s robe.
Behind the robe they found a young woman crouching and shivering with fear.
The irate villagers set about cursing the abbot and the woman and police reinforcements were called to help keep the crowd at bay.
Bottles of alcoholic beverages were also found on the premises, indicating the monk might have broken his monastic vow of abstaining from intoxicants.
Eventually, the monk admitted having had an affair with the woman and was disrobed.
The case is one of the latest scandals including senior Buddhist monks in Thailand.
In recent years, a number of monks have been accused of various crimes and misdemeanors including the statutory rape of minors, drug trafficking and attempted murder.
Commenters have taken to social media to decry Phra Samut over his illicit liaison in a Buddhist-majority country where monks are widely respected and even venerated as representatives of the Buddha.
“Respect the robe, not the man in it,” one commenter argued.
“It’s the monk’s fault and not the woman’s,” argued another.
“Utterly shameless and the villagers were [likely] fooled for years!” a third said.
