Monks caught drinking alcohol on New Year’s Day say they were honouring ancestors

Three Buddhist monks are facing expulsion from monkhood after they were caught drinking alcohol on New Year’s Day, which is a violation of their rules. Apparently, locals gave rice whiskey to the temple as an offering to their ancestors, but a monk says they drank the alcohol as a way to “deliver the alcohol to the dead people.”

Residents called the local police in the central province Kamphaeng Phet, concerned that the monks were partying and drinking alcohol. Although no alcohol bottles were found, the police sensed a strong smell of alcohol. Officers say alcohol was also detected during alcohol breath tests.

A monk, identified as Arpat, denied drinking alcohol, but police say he later admitted, saying they drank the whiskey to deliver the alcohol to those who had died and didn’t think it would be against the monastic norms.

“We drank this whiskey in order to deliver alcohol to those dead people, we were doing a good thing by blessing their ancestors and thought this would not violate the rules of being a monk.”

SOURCE: The Pattaya News