Chiang Mai police have arrested a 17-year-old novice monk accused of stealing 20,000 baht ($625USD) from a spa.
The monk – whose name is being withheld as he is under 18 – told police that he had committed several thefts, and afterwards went out to bars dressed in a wig and women’s clothes, one report said.
CityNews reported last week that the monk had walked into a spa and ordered a large amount of spa products, saying they were a present for a senior monk.
CCTV footage shows that while staff were packing the products, he walked to the counter, opened a drawer and took a bag containing the money, before leaving the premises.
Staff at the Oasis Spa on Sirimangkalajarn Road informed police from Phu Ping Palace station, and after studying CCTV footage the suspect was named as the 17-year-old novice monk, who had been arrested for robbery before. He was convicted of stealing goods from another monk in March 2013, and was released from juvenile detention in April this year.
He told police that after he was released from jail, he was secretly ordained and stayed in a temple in Pa Sang district, Lamphun. While there, he stole money totalling around 40,000 baht from the abbot on five occasions. He also stole 5,000 baht from a monk living in another temple, and 30,000 baht and a golden necklace from a woman supporting the monks. He also confessed to stealing a credit card after taking money from the spa.
http://chiangmaicitynews.com/news.php?id=4323
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Bad lady-boy, whatcha want
Watcha want, whatcha gonna do?
When sheriff John Brown come for you
Tell me whatcha wanna do, whatcha gonna do?
Bad lady-boy, bad lady-boy whatcha gonna do?
Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?
Bad lady-boy, bad lady-boy whatcha gonna do?
Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?
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Via: The Phuket News
BANGKOK: The National Office of Buddhism (NOB) has condemned two Harry Potteresque monks pictured riding broomsticks to hilarious effect.
Although their attempt to imitate Harry Potter was probably a passing moment of silliness and not a rite of dark sorcery, others were Not Amused. NOB Director Nopparat Benjawattananan said today (July 10) that the monks in the widely shared photo acted inappropriately and lack discipline. The organization will identify them, he said; they deserve punishment. Nopparat said the only clue to locating the mischievous monks was that they live somewhere in the north.
http://www.thephuketnews.com/harry-potter-monks-in-deep-trouble-47302.php
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Via: Khaosod English
The abbot of the City Pillar Shrine in Chiang Mai has ordered local artists to alter the angels painted on the shrine’s walls by swapping their traditional swords with modern weapons.
“In the ancient time, these angels were equipped with ancient weapons like spears, swords, and knives,” said the abbot, Phra Kru Suwattana Mettakhun. “But we decided to give them M16 rifles, M79 grenade launchers, handguns, and grenades, so they can have diverse choice of weapons.”
“These are the weapons that are up to date,” the abbot said.
http://en.khaosod.co.th/detail.php?newsid=1401775302
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CUCKOO for COCOA PUFFS!! CUCKOO for COCOA PUFFS!! CUCKOO for COCOA PUFFS!!
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Via: City News – Chiang Mai
CityNews – A new research study led by the Pew Research Centre has found countries like Thailand and Myanmar to be rising on the list of religiously hostile countries. Around three quarters of the world’s population resides in countries where religion is highly restricted, with the Pew report finding that hostility towards religion worldwide has reached a six-year high.
The research found six countries that were similarly scored for religious hostilities in 2011 – Thailand, Myanmar, Syria, Lebanon, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh – had all increased greatly by 2012. Of the 198 countries named as having a low, moderate, high, or very high level of social hostilities involving religion, Thailand now sits alongside countries like Egypt and Sudan in the “very high” bracket.
Religious violence in Thailand is mostly carried out in the Southern provinces of Thailand, which have been experiencingan ethnic separatist insurgency for over a decade. More than 5,300 people have lost their lives in the region since the insurgency began.
Although the Thai Constitution allows its citizens the right to freedom of speech, there are laws prohibiting insulting speech against Buddhism (the one religion significantly supported by the government). The 1962 Sangha Act specifically forbids the perceived defamation of Buddhism and the Buddhist clergy, of which offenders could face jail time or fines of up to 20,000 baht ($606 USD).
The government of Thailand does not register new religious groups outside of the five existing religious governing bodies and their denominations it already recognizes, which are: Buddhism, Islam, Hinudism, Judaism, and Christianity.
http://www.chiangmaicitynews.com/news.php?id=3173
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A 55 year old Monk was found drinking whisky in front of a South Pattaya Temple on Wednesday morning and it is reported he was drinking to forget a substantial loss of money invested in lottery tickets.
Police and Municipal Officers were called to the front of the Tamsamakee Temple in South Pattaya just after 8am on Wednesday and were confronted by the Monk who appeared heavily intoxicated. Local residents saw the Monk had been earlier handed a bottle of Whisky.
The Monk’s registration papers were checked and appeared to be in-order. He told Police that he had come to Pattaya to make a new ID Card so he could register for welfare payments and claimed to have lost a staggering 500,000 Baht ($15,583 US) in, what is believed to be, an unlicensed lottery.
The Monks drunken state is in contravention of regulations pertaining to the conduct of a Buddhist Monk and he was taken to the Chaimongkol Temple nearby, where he was ordered to disrobe and leave the Monkhood with immediate effect.
http://www.pattayaone.net/pattaya-news/108908/monk-drunk-lottery-loss-in-front-south-pattaya-temple/
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disrobed?
So, IF you see a naked, drunk, bald-headed guy, it might be the monk.
So, IF you see a naked, VERY DRUNK, bald-headed guy, it’s probably a Russian tourist.
Either way, jus’ walk away, as fast as you can!
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It was not so long ago that Burmese monks dressed in saffron robes organised brave protests and peaceful processions against the brutal military junta led by General Than Shwe. It was dubbed the Saffron Revolution.
In 2007, the monks’ Gandhian non-violent resistance was watched with awe, and commanded the respect of millions around the globe.
But these images etched in our collective memory are hard to square with an ugly new reality: Buddhist gangs setting Muslims communities ablaze; acts of collective arson and racist brutality, with some monks playing a vanguard role in instigating this anti-Muslim campaign.
How can the same religion known throughout the world for its commitment to peace, meditation, and reflection engage in hate-filled sermons against the Muslim minority? What has happened to the world religion that is above all other world religions, devoted to peace and non-violence? Has the year of the heroic monks of 2007 metamorphosed into some devilish distortion of Theravada Buddhism, forsaking tolerance and respect for all humanity, into a crassly xenophobic new creed that endorses killing Muslims in the name of Buddhism?
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Most of the media coverage, Burmese and international alike, has narrowly focused on the anti-Muslim rantings spewed out by Buddhist monk U Wirathu, from a monastery near Mandalay. The leader of the ultra-nationalist movement known as “969” has claimed that Muslims commit virtually all the rapes reported in Burma, that their mosques and assets are being secretly financed by the Saudis, and that they will eventually take over the whole country.
Buddha preached calm and contemplation but Wirathu’s agenda calls for the opposite. “Now is not the time for calm,” declares the 46-year-old monk as he denigrates Muslims. “Now is the time to rise up, to make your blood boil.” (This quote was reported in the July 1st edition of TIME Magazine, which featured a cover shot of the angry monk headlined “The Face of Buddhist Terror.” The issue was banned inside Burma.)
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Read more, HERE:
http://www.chiangmainews.com/ecmn/viewfa.php?id=3856
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Via: Chiang Mai Citylife
One of the most negative aspects to develop out of the newly democratic and open society of Burma is the use of freedom of expression and freedom to gather as a catalyst for ethnic and religious hate mongering.
While ethnic tensions between the Buddhists in Rakhine state and their Muslim Rohingyan neighbours have been underlying for generations in both civil society as well as politically, the new open society has allowed for these tensions to be provoked into riots, violence and the destruction of Rohingyan villages in and around the capital of Rakhine state, Sittwe.
This has led to a mass exodus of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya to Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in outlying areas.
The Burmese government has done little to quell the violence or to set up proper support structures within the camps, where conditions are extremely poor with little access to clean water and enough food as well. The Rohingya that have stayed in Sittwe are relegated to a cordoned-off neighbourhood called Aung Mingalar that is also referred to as “the ghetto.” It is controlled by state security forces that do not let the Rohingyans leave, making it nearly impossible for them to take part in any kind of commerce. These photos depict the day-to-day existence of Rohingya living in Sittwe. While the violence towards Muslims began here, it is now spreading nationwide, spurning a fear of Buddhist jihad as well as retribution by both domestic and foreign Muslims.
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Read MORE, See MORE, HERE:
http://www.chiangmainews.com/ecmn/viewfa.php?id=3873
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At Wat Suan Dok thousands of Buddhists attended the ceremony and gave offerings to over 200 monks. Some of whom had even reserved a space for the evening.
‘Peng Pud’ (middle Wednesday) is, some people believe, the day when Pra Uppakut or Pra Bua Khem (monk from the past with a lot of sway), leaves his home from under the sea and goes to temples to receive alms and bless people.
It’s believed that when you give alms to Pra Uppakut you will not only become blessed, BUT ALSO BECOME RICH.
http://www.chiangmaicitynews.com/news.php?id=2224
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Q: Will you go next year?
A: Oh hell, NO!
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Via: Khaosod English
Police arrested a monk accused of raping a 14-year-old girl. The monk confessed to the crime, saying he was under influence of alcohol.
Phra Mahasanan Atipatto, 64, was hiding in Phayao province when the police apprehended him, following complaint from the girl that she had sexually assaulted her at his former temple, Wat Bang Bua, in Bang Khen District of Bangkok.
The girl told police the monk lured her to visit him at his temple in April this year by promising her free food, an offer she said she accepted because her family was in poverty. The monk reportedly raped her there before paying her 80 baht ($2.67 USD) and threatening her not to tell anyone.
In spite of what happened, she said, she continued to visit the monk for food, due to her family′s financial situation. But she said she had taken care not to be with the monk alone during those visits.
On 28 May, however, when Phra Mahasanan reportedly called the girl to visit him for free food again, the girl came to see the monk with her 2 friends. The monk then asked the girl to buy him some alcohol so she went out buying the alcohol, leaving her friends with the suspect, according to the victim.
When she came back,she said, she saw the suspect touching her friends, so she ran inside, dropped the items on the floor and headed for the exit. Unfortunately the monk allegedly grabbed her and raped her again while her friends managed to escape.
http://www.khaosod.co.th/en/view_newsonline.php?newsid=TVRNM05UQTRPRFUwTnc9PQ==
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I’ve had the good fortune to live in many far-away places; from Brazil to Tokyo, from London to the Middle East.
——–
’04 and ’05 I was working in Amman, Jordan; +ten-hour days, seven days a week, eight straight weeks, followed with twelve days off.
Anywhooo, I jus’ by chance happen to hear the Stones: “Time, time, time is on my side, yes it is”; and THEN I realized, NO it’s NOT.
So I QUIT, and ended a thirty-five year career in Construction Management.
Since August of 2005, I’ve been living in Chiang Mai (the Rose of the North), Thailand.
============
My other, ‘HOME of the HEART’:
– the Pacific Northwest
Go M’s! -:)
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My FAMILY:
– I consider myself lucky in many ways, but none more so than . . .
http://jonsfamily.wordpress.com/
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a little bit of this, a lttle bit of that; a bit of …
– everything which don’t fit in the other three
living in the 'Land of Smiles' 