Abbot Abandons Novice 56 Km Away as Punishment
A 14-year-old Laotian novice was abandoned 56 km from his monastery in Thailand's Mukdahan Province and ordered to walk back as punishment for teasing a fellow monk. Religious authorities have launched an investigation, saying the disciplin
An abbot has sparked controversy after abandoning a 14-year-old Laotian novice in a sal forest in Mukdahan Province's Kham Cha-i District and ordering him to walk back to his monastery 56 kilometers away as punishment. According to the novice, he was left in the forest as discipline for teasing a fellow monk, and this marks the third time he has received this punishment. Local residents found and assisted the boy, transferring him to Pak Ban Song Monastery.
The District Sangha Council chairman, Phra Kru Siri Thammakosal, stated that no approval was given for this disciplinary method and expressed concern it posed a safety risk and violated monastic standards. He ordered the monastery to retrieve the novice safely. The abbot's temple later explained through a senior novice that the punishment was intended to strengthen meditation practice and had escalated in severity because the younger novice had a pattern of bullying peers, including burning a friend with a lighter. The case remains under investigation by religious authorities and officials.
