Flirting monks under investigation
Most of us use social-networking websites like Facebook and MySpace, but a warning from the Prime Minister’s Office urges Internet users to be on the lookout for rogue, flirting monks. Thailand’s government is spending taxpayers’ money on investigating claims that monks have been using the Hi5 website to chat up women.
Chakrapob Penkair, a minister from the PM’s office, said that authorities are trying to find a way to monitor use of Hi5 by monks.
One monk, who goes by the name Monk Chat, sent a message to a woman saying, “I miss you”. Clearly this warrants a full-scale investigation.
Although Buddhist monks are supposed to abstain from sex and other vices, every week there are news reports of monks out drinking in karaoke bars, having affairs or else fondling women.
“We urge people who use the site to tell monks to leave. Other users need to show them that it is inappropriate for monks to chat with women online,” said K. Chakrapob.
There is even talk of Hi5 being blocked, although I think such an event is highly unlikely.
What’s unclear is if this is a problem because of the individual monks stepping out of line or because it casts a dark shadow over monks in general. I suspect a lot of this is to do with the image of monks, who are not supposed to be poked fun at.
It may be that people are simply pretending to be monks in the hope of attracting women. It could be some sort of reverse-psychology thing, like when Adam Sandler pretended to be gay and got to hang out at Jessica Biel’s place.
Should monks be banned from Hi5?
AP
March 5th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
That’s the thing about the Internet. People may not necessarily be truthful in what they say or do. We could easily change our identity to take on someone else’s and there is little way in checking it out. With that said, I agree with your last 2 paragraphs.
Should we ban monks? I think not. But if truly there is a monk that’s doing that, then, something needs to be done. Otherwise, we’re free to go on the Internet, socialize and so on with a clear mind.
March 5th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
Hmmm…I don’t think they should be banned from Hi5, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Thai government did that or even blocked Hi5 entirely. Do you think they learned their lesson from YouTube? It would surely raise a huge outcry amongst Thailand young people though. I mean look at the Hi5 profile for the Thai band Thaitanium - they have over 1 million friends which gives some idea how many Thai’s are using Hi5. Really it should be up to the temples to monitor the behavior of their monks and if individual temples want to impose some punishment on the monks or block internet access in the temples then that is up to the individual abbots. Of course I know this is Thailand and there is no separation of church and state like in the U.S. so who knows what course of action will be taken. You’re probably right and the biggest factor here is the loss of face for the temples/abbots/monks.
March 5th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
Thai monks, these days, are different from the old generation. They are easily exposed to anything sinful. If they are banned from cruising Hi5, one way or another, they will find a way to access another similar site. Many of them have to be monks because of the circumstances of their lives, like poverty. Who would not like free food, free accommodation and even free education?
March 6th, 2008 at 1:33 am
Hi5 should be banned in every country; it is a crap site and only a country with an average IQ of 87 would embrace it in the way Thailand has.
March 6th, 2008 at 6:14 am
Wait, let me try to clear something up. It’s not actually illegal for monks to fraternize with women, right? I mean, the ban is church doctrine, not law, right? That would only make sense… If that’s true, however, then why is the government getting involved at all? No crimes have been committed, so shouldn’t this be an internal church affair, not a government matter?
I may sound a bit conspiracy-theorist here, but it seems out of sorts for the Thai government to publicize any negative information regarding the monk hood. Anyone else think there might be something to the idea that this is just an appetizer meant to weaken the monkhood’s credibility before we see more (important) fireworks later?
Lastly… what word does one use to refer to the organizational institution of Thai Buddhism (as opposed to the religion itself)? I’m looking for the equivalent to “the church” as in “Father Rodriquez didn’t have the authority to make the decision on his own, he first had to consult with the church.” It sounds wrong to just say, “the temple.”
March 6th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
I am not a monk. So, is that ok for me to say “I miss you” to the person I like? or is that also blasphemy? Flirting with monks is forbidden, but flirting with Matt is allowed!
;o)
March 7th, 2008 at 2:25 am
As long as you’re not a nun, I think it’s fine.
March 7th, 2008 at 7:43 am
@Jase,
In Thailand, government and religion (buddhism) are intertwined and interdependent way much more so than the US government (church) even though the latter still rights ‘in god we trust’ on the money. There shouldn’t be any surprise to the amount of involvement with law and religion and enforcement.
I am not one to get too deep into the details as I don’t know them all first hand, but the word you are looking for is the ‘Sangha’ (pronounced Sung like dung or bung)
The irony is that the philosophy of Buddhism conflicts with the idea of having an organizing body running things and making sure all the monks, laymen and laywomen are following the rules to the book, because the buddha’s path to enlightenment is only possible with self-inner order and dicipline that one initiates on their own account…but that’s religion for you!
March 7th, 2008 at 11:46 am
The government stupido who wants to ban Hi5 on the basis of a lusty monk must have an eye to his own karma or else os trying to prove his credentials. Truly pathetic either way. It seems he doesn’t know what everyone else seems to know who doesnt have their heads either in the clouds or up their ass; that the male monkhood has multitudinous drop-outs and ex-criminals and the female monkhood has multitudinous drop-outs and ex-prostitutes. Does this make the institution of the monkhood bad? Nope. Does it make Thais run around like headless chickens? Apparently.
Puhleeease.
bedwyr
March 7th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Sex abstinence isn’t an easy thing…
Even Christian priests are known to ‘loose’ their minds sometimes….
;-p
should let those poor boys have their time of fun!
March 8th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
I agee with Farang…. it’s better to have a monk on Hi5, then a priest in the pants of a child…..
March 27th, 2008 at 9:17 am
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