Australian tourist disrupts Pattaya temple, allegedly high on cannabis
The peace of a local Buddhist temple in South Pattaya was abruptly shattered yesterday morning as a seemingly stoned Australian tourist started to wreck the sanctuary. Jason Bradley Scott snuck into the temple at dawn, allegedly high on cannabis, and did damage before injuring himself while trying to flee.
Wat Chai, also known as Wat Chai Mongkol Royal Monastery, situated in South Pattaya’s Bang Lamung district, Chon Buri was buzzing with monks at around 6.20am yesterday when the visitor in question, an Australian identified as 55 year old Jason Bradley Scott arrived to the temple on a motorbike taxi.
Finding most of the monks in the restrooms and prayer halls, Scott used the opportunity to quietly slip into one of the chapels. What followed was a rampage that resulted in the desecration of the hallowed site, including the destruction of precious ivory tusks.
Phra Maha Watajak, a resident monk at the temple, was drawn to the chapel by the unusual noise. However, Scott was already trying to make his getaway. In his rush, the Australian man tumbled down a flight of stairs in the temple and was immobilised by minor injuries, thus thwarting his attempted escape, according to the monk.
“He darted out of the chapel as quickly as he had entered. But in his hurry, he lost grip on one of the stairs and slipped.”
Surrounded by temple followers, the Australian man was visibly impaired. Recognising this, and faced with Scott’s erratic behaviour, the temple authorities decided to call the police and emergency responders for assistance.
However, Scott put up a fight when the police’s attempted to transport him in an ambulance. He refused to cooperate and verbally berated the rescue team, causing a scene within the otherwise serene environment of the temple, reported The Pattaya News.
Police were eventually successful in transporting the hostile Australian tourist from the temple to the hospital, where law enforcement described his condition as “extremely uncooperative.” After assessing the damage, Phra Maha Watajak says the temple will be persuing justice.
“We plan to file a police report to initiate legal proceedings against the man.”
Additionally, despite Thai media reports suggesting that the Australian was possibly under the influence of cannabis during his temple havoc, the police have stated that they are yet to confirm this and would be conducting further investigations.
“Although it has been reported that he was under the influence of cannabis, we have not yet found any concrete evidence to support this claim.”
