A Buriram monk was disrobed and charged with drunk driving after slamming a friend’s car into five vehicles in Sattahip.
Sudjai Somanee, ordained as Phra Sudjai Jitsaro, tested with a blood-alcohol 182 percent of the legal limit on Feb. 16 at the Bang Saray intersection of Sukhumvit Road. The red Mitsubishi he was driving hit two cars and three pickup trucks.
One of the victims, Weerawit Worapatkornsiri, 20, a student of the Thai-Austrian Technical College, said he stopped at a red light when he was rear-ended by the Mitsubishi, which fled the scene. He followed the drunk driver to see him crash into several other cars.
Sudjai Somanee was disrobed and charged with drunk driving.
Police said Sudjai confessed to taking his friend’s car for a drive after they’d been drinking heavily. He said he was stressed out over his girlfriend’s attraction to another man and needed to clear his head.
Sudjai, who was visiting a temple in Nong Yai sub-district for a week, had been a monk in Buriram for seven years.
Phra Kru Tatsaneeyakunakorn, the ecclesiastical district chief for Sattahip stripped him of his robes before he was taken into custody by police.
