A 40-year-old monk dressed as a layman was arrested for drunk driving after he sped through a police checkpoint in downtown Chiang Mai early Tuesday.
Police gave chase to a speeding sedan with a Chiang Mai licence plate about 4am on Tuesday after the driver refused to stop at the checkpoint at Khuangsing intersection in front of Rajabhat Chiang Mai University for a breath-alcohol test. Police subsequently stopped the vehicle, Thai media reported.
The driver, identified later as Phra Sophon Polpiyaphum, a monk well known in Chiang Mai’s Muang district, was apprehended at the wheel. He was wearing layman’s clothing and appeared drunk. A teenage girl and two teenage boys were also inside the car.
The drunk monk was found to 130 milligrams of alcohol/litre in his blood, exceeding the permissible level of 50 milligrams for driving.
Police found out that the monk went to his mother’s house in Muang district, where he exchanged his saffron robe for ordinary clothing, and drove away in his mother’s car, taking the two teenage boys, both former novices, to have some drinks at a restaurant.
They drank about a dozen bottles of beer between them before leaving the restaurant.
On the way back, the monk saw the teenage girl in front of a convenience store. He and his friends persuaded her to go with them.
When the monk saw police conducting breathalyser tests he panicked and sped through the checkpoint, causing police to gave chase.
The monk was held in police custody. The two youths and the young woman were released without charges.