Col Surin Charoencheep had been informed of the monks staying in the forest for two months and never participating in temple rites. They’d sometimes been seen driven into town on hired motorcycles at 4.30am and returning to their camp at 8 or 9am. Authorities found two monks sleeping in a tent and the other three conversing noisily. The monks were taken to a local temple to be defrocked and charged with unlawful entry in preparation for deportation. One of the monks said he’d invited his fellow monks to travel with him to Thailand because Thai lay people often give monks cash on their alms rounds.

Source: The Nation Bangkok February 06, 2018 06:22 UTC