It’s a bad abbot.
Four Buddhist monks in Thailand have been shipped off to rehab after they all tested positive for meth.
The holy men — including the temple’s abbot, or head monk — failed the drug tests in the Phetchabun province’s Bung Sam Phan district on Monday, an official told Agence France-Presse.
“The temple is now empty of monks and nearby villagers are concerned they cannot do any merit-making,” said the official, Boonlert Thintapthai.
Police forced the monks to undergo urine tests after they raided the temple as part of the province’s crackdown on drugs.
The monks, who haven’t been named, have since been sent to a health clinic to undergo drug rehabilitation.
They were also immediately booted from the monkhood in the wake of their positive tests — leaving their tiny temple without any religious leaders.
Merit-making is a Buddhist practice that involves followers donating food to monks as a good deed.
Back-up monks are being sent to the temple so villagers can practice their religious obligations, the official said.
It wasn’t immediately clear if any drugs were also found stashed in the temple.
Thailand is a major transit country for methamphetamine flooding in from neighboring nations and pills sell for as little as 50 cents on the street.
Still, the positive meth tests is just the latest instance of Thai monks behaving badly.
A drug-addled monk named Phra Annipalo, 34, was arrested earlier this month in northern Thailand after allegedly carjacking two vehicles and leading cops on a frantic chase.
He is facing up to three years in jail for the car theft and is also expected to be charged under Thailand’s Narcotics Act.
