A 63-year-old man was arrested yesterday in Chonburi for disturbing the peace and disguising himself as a Buddhist monk. He was earlier caught on video engaged in a heated exchange with a woman on the BTS.
Phra Suwan Chancharoenwanich is now being detained at a Chonburi police station after he went on a rant directed at a van driver en route to Trat province. Phra Suwan reportedly made loud noises on a phone call and screamed profanity at passengers who informed him to lower his voice.
Upon his arrival to the police station, Phra Suwan refused to show his monk identification card and claimed that he had a relationship with many high-ranking officials. Police subsequently invited a monk in the ecclesiastical sub-district committee to investigate Phra Suwan’s identity and discovered that Phra Suwan had never been ordained as a monk.
The arrest of Phra Suwan has cleared up doubts surrounding a video clip in which he unleashed a string of curse words at a BTS passenger. Netizens had long debated whether or not Phra Suwan was a real monk and if his manner was appropriate. People that believed Phra Suwan was a real monk even helped to condemn the woman in order to protect him.
Phra Suwan Chancharoenwanich on the BTS
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