Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday charged a teen for disguising himself as a Buddhist monk and collecting alms to fund his drug addiction.

San Chanthol, a police officer with Sen Sok district police, identified the accused as Yuon Loh, 19, from Siem Reap province.

Mr Chanthol said he was yesterday charged with drug use and unauthorised wearing of Buddhist robes, noting he faces six months to three years imprisonment if convicted. Mr Chanthol said that on Saturday at about 7am, the teen walked from house to house in Sen Sok district collecting alms from villagers, earning at least $10.

Mr Chanthol said while raising funds from villagers, the accused claimed that he was collecting the funds to pay for the construction of a temple in Siem Reap province.

But after raising the money, the accused bought two small packages of crystal methamphetamine, Mr Chanthol said.

He added that after buying the drugs, the suspect travelled by a motorbike taxi to a guesthouse in Teuk Thla commune to smoke the drugs.

While smoking, the guesthouse cleaner saw him and reported him to the guesthouse owner, who in turn reported him to local police.

StroppyChops wrote: ↑Sat Apr 21, 2018 10:22 pm I was hoping it was the guy who begs on Riverside and plays the bracelet scam.

AndyKK wrote: ↑Sat Apr 21, 2018 1:40 pm At least he had the right visa.

CBEQ wrote: ↑Tue Apr 24, 2018 7:57 am I've seen many monks around the country wearing different colored robes. A friend of mine told me you can tell the 'real monks' by their brightly orange colored robes and the 'fake' ones by their weird red/yellow ones.

There was a point during Pchum Ben in which the monks were all supposed to be at the pagoda praying towards the end of the holiday. I was drinking with local Khmer friends and they saw a monk walking around very late at night asking for money. They confronted him (because he should not have been out at that time) and he hastily took off in the other direction.

fax wrote: ↑Tue Apr 24, 2018 9:39 am

StroppyChops wrote: ↑Sat Apr 21, 2018 10:22 pm I was hoping it was the guy who begs on Riverside and plays the bracelet scam.

Him? newsworthy/chinese-monk-arrested-for-re ... t5401.html

bolueeleh wrote: ↑Tue Apr 24, 2018 9:47 am

CBEQ wrote: ↑Tue Apr 24, 2018 7:57 am I've seen many monks around the country wearing different colored robes. A friend of mine told me you can tell the 'real monks' by their brightly orange colored robes and the 'fake' ones by their weird red/yellow ones.

There was a point during Pchum Ben in which the monks were all supposed to be at the pagoda praying towards the end of the holiday. I was drinking with local Khmer friends and they saw a monk walking around very late at night asking for money. They confronted him (because he should not have been out at that time) and he hastily took off in the other direction.

real monks from different countries hv different coloured robes, china, taiwan, malaysia, singapore hv more yellow coloured robes, himalayan region hv saffron coloured robes, also depends on what sect of buddhism the monks are in

most asian countries hv diff sects thats why u cld see diff coloured robes in one country

anytime a monk ask for money is wrong, any country, any sect of buddhism