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by BBC News Asia
Friday, 20 October,
2000, 17:29 GMT
An abbot at a Thai
temple has been ordered to leave the monkhood in disgrace after being
caught carousing with women in a karaoke bar.
The abbot was said
to be fond of karaoke
Phra Pativetviset,
from the Bangkok temple, Wat Sriboonruang, was banished after being
captured on film during a police raid on the club last weekend.
Reports said the
abbot had donned a wig, sunglasses and normal clothes for the clandestine
visit to the bar in his home province of Ang Thong.
But he was still
identified when footage of the raid was screened as part of a television
news report.
Pativetviset has
protested his innocence, but his superiors have reportedly told him to
leave temple life or face being defrocked.
Partying
The Bangkok Post
said a pile of clothes, a wig and a bottle of perfume had been found near
a temple in Ang Thong.
Witnesses also said
the man at the bar had exactly the same birth mark on his ear as
Pativetviset.
Buddhist monks are
forbidden to drink alcohol or patronise entertainment venues.
But reports said
Pativetviset was a well-known party-goer in his home province where he
spent freely at entertainment venues.
The Religious
Affairs Department said the authorities may push for criminal proceedings
against the abbot if it is found he squandered temple funds on partying.
Mercedes
In recent years,
Buddhist monks have been involved in a number of scandals in Thailand and
have been accused of crimes including child sexual abuse and murder.
Last month
Thailand's abbots censured a Buddhist monk at another Bangkok temple after
he amassed a vast collection of luxury cars using disciples' donations.
And in another
scandal, police tests on monks at a temple in Nakhon Sawan province
appeared to show a number had taken drugs.
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