More Thai Information; December 10, 2017

The following information is what I understand to be the practices within Thailand of the Monk hood.
Of a population of about sixty million, Thais, 85 percent are Buddhist, the others are a wide assortment of faiths and religions. Every male must train and learn the Buddhist teachings for a minimum two years in their lifetime. In many families, mainly the poorer families, the boys are sent to the local temple during their school holidays. Over their ten to 12 years at school, they attain their credits, and do not need to work further at this study.
Monks are supposedly to be poor and have no wealth; study and teach, but own only their clothes and simple needs. They live in the temples, of which Thailand has around 38 thousand...easy walking distance for all. The monks eat one meal a day, usually just before 11 A.M., from food that is obtained by doing a daily walk in the local area where the people put food in their bowls. Some also put small amounts of money in the collection of food, most of which is in plastic bags. Women must never touch a monk, and men usually just do the wie, a hand motion with hands together, and a slight nod or bow. The Thai culture because of this life style is one of honesty and peacefulness. If someone does a crime, unless serious, the police make an appointment for the culprit to come to the station for a chat....no cuff and ride to the local police station. That may be two weeks away...everyone trusts everyone . Some people head to the temple if they get into trouble, and put on the saffron robes, and the police wait a year or two until they come back to society. If serious, they do issue arrest warrants and the head monk defrocks the person, or he disrobes voluntarily. Women cannot be monks.

However, last week, the police charged 95 senior monks with all sorts of crimes, five for being married, many others for fraud, corruption, and on it goes. They feel that there will be hundreds more before the situation is cleared up. Last year, one monk felt the heat from police...maybe tipped off, and was flown to California in his"private jet", that was "given to him". He was shipped back to Bangkok, under arrest, without the jet this spring.

Acts of disrespect are frowned upon, by Thais, and the penalties are usually high if one is caught.
Two weeks ago, two gay, married men from California were travelling to very religious and important sites in Bangkok. They were removing their shorts and taking "selfies", and posting them on a gay website they created called,"Butts Travel". They were nabbed at the airport, as they waited to fly over to Cambodia. They told the police that they could not arrest them, "they were American".
They were taken to jail, and faced up to seven years in jail and severe fines. Today, they were released, deported and banned from ever going back to Thailand. What an ass-inine thing to do!.