Buddhist monk’s car crash meltdown in Bangkok

Police rushed to suppress a potentially volatile incident after a Buddhist monk smashed a car and later hid in the main hall of the Lao Temple in the Bang Khun Thian district of Bangkok. A local told police that he believed the monk was out of control due to stress after learning too much online Buddhist doctrine.

The monk was identified as 40 year old Seree. He reportedly crashed a red Honda Yaris sedan parked in the temple before fleeing the scene and hiding in the main hall. The back and front windows of the car were damaged. The car owner’s identity was not revealed in the report.

Upon arriving at the scene, officers from Tha Karm Police Station discovered Seree hiding in the main hall. It took the officers, other monks, and locals 30 minutes to calm him down before sending him to the hospital for a health check.

According to the other monks in the temple, Saree is a good monk and has been in the monkhood for over 10 years, but he started behaving strangely a week before the incident. No one knew the reasons why he was acting out of character.

A local 41 year old man called Tom told Channel 3 news that he knew Saree and confirmed that he is a good monk. He always took care of the temple and performed his duties as expected.

Tom believes Seree may have been under stress due to his love of learning Dhamma, or Buddhist doctrine, via online channels like YouTube and other social media platforms.

This is not the first time a monk has made headlines in Thailand. Two weeks ago, two Buddhist monks fought with each other at a funeral in the Isaan province of Surin. The brawl reportedly broke out over seniority. The monk who started the fight was said to be angry at another monk because he took a front-row seat which was reserved for a monk with a long period of service.

Another Buddhist monk was forced to leave the monkhood after a 32 year old married woman revealed that she had an affair with the monk for years. The woman disclosed that the monk lured her into his accommodation at midnight saying he would perform a ritual on her for luck. However, he sexually exploited her and they later had sexual intercourse.

The woman decided to expose the relationship because some locals and her husband were gossiping about her and the monk.