lonelywombat
March 4th, 2008, 13:40
From breaking news today cut and paste
From correspondents in Bangkok
March 04, 2008 06:01pm
THAI officials urged Buddhist monks today to avoid using social networking websites to woo women after an advocacy group found some monks were doing just that.
The request came as police in the northeast detained a monk accused of using a website to lure a woman to his temple and raping her.
"I call on Hi5 users to tell the monks to leave the site if they are found using it," junior minister Jakrapob Penkair said after a Buddhist monitoring group said some monks were flirting on the website popular with Thai users.
Reports of monks caught using or selling drugs or having consensual sex with women are not uncommon in the Thai media, which reported today a 23-year-old monk was caught raping a teenager he lured to his room through the website.
A senior Culture Ministry official said monks should not be banned from the cyberspace, but should turn this "crisis" into "opportunity" by bringing Buddha's teaching to the young.
"Instead of using the net to flirt with young girls, monks should find ways to preach Dharma and lead them in the right direction," said Ladda Thangsupachai, head of the Cultural Surveillance Centre.
From correspondents in Bangkok
March 04, 2008 06:01pm
THAI officials urged Buddhist monks today to avoid using social networking websites to woo women after an advocacy group found some monks were doing just that.
The request came as police in the northeast detained a monk accused of using a website to lure a woman to his temple and raping her.
"I call on Hi5 users to tell the monks to leave the site if they are found using it," junior minister Jakrapob Penkair said after a Buddhist monitoring group said some monks were flirting on the website popular with Thai users.
Reports of monks caught using or selling drugs or having consensual sex with women are not uncommon in the Thai media, which reported today a 23-year-old monk was caught raping a teenager he lured to his room through the website.
A senior Culture Ministry official said monks should not be banned from the cyberspace, but should turn this "crisis" into "opportunity" by bringing Buddha's teaching to the young.
"Instead of using the net to flirt with young girls, monks should find ways to preach Dharma and lead them in the right direction," said Ladda Thangsupachai, head of the Cultural Surveillance Centre.