Buddhist Lent doesn’t begin for months, but monks from Wat Khao Maikaew will are staying inside the temple early due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Abbot Suntornrattanapirom said the ancient daily ritual of soliciting alms puts monks in contact with a large number of people with no knowledge of who may be infected with Covid-19. Given the growing spread of the disease, he has confined monks to the temple for their safety.
The temple has hired cooks to prepare meals and monks will eat at a safe distance from each other.
For the public, giving alms is an important way to make merit. But the abbot told the public they can continue to make offerings of food and rice, just not to the monks directly just as they do during Lent, which begins in July.
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