Chon Buri monk arrested, defrocked for abusing ‘ice’
Police arrested a Buddhist monk in Chon Buri’s Sattahip district on Wednesday morning for having allegedly used crystal meth stuffed into the sweets given to him as alms.
Police from the Na Jomthien police station were led by Supoj Inyaem, head of Ban Na Jomthien village, to arrest Phra Prawit Punkaew, 22, at his room at a temple in the village in Tambon Na Jomthien.
Police also arrested two teenagers for allegedly using crystal meth or ‘ice’ at the monk's living quarters. They were identified as Phaisarn Srimaya, 19 and “Ek” (not his real name), 15.
The arrests were made after people in the neighbourhood complained to the village head that the monk was allowing teenagers to use drugs at his room.
The monk has been defrocked.
He said he got ordained to make merit for his mother before the start of the Buddhist Lent. He said he was addicted to drugs, so he had asked a close friend to stuff “ice” into sweets and give them to him as alms in the morning. He then ate the sweets so that he did not have to use a smoking tool to inhale the drug.
