Buddhist Monks Evicted En Masse

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia –– A Cambodian temple has expelled 70 Buddhist monks for scandalous behavior including embezzlement, visiting brothels and watching pornographic videos, officials said Thursday.

The monks were evicted Tuesday from the North Taing Kosang pagoda in Phnom Pehn, the capital, following numerous complaints from neighborhood residents, said Voeuk Bo, a government official responsible for Buddhist affairs in the district of Dangkor.

Two days earlier a monk beat a disabled person who criticized misconduct at the temple, Voeuk Bo said.

"There was a total anarchy in that temple," he said. "It was no longer a place for religious worship."

Voeuk Bo accused the temple's chief monk of embezzling $1,200 that worshippers donated to support the temple.

Other monks gambled in card games, watched pornographic videos, disguised themselves as laymen to visit brothels, and stole chickens from houses in the neighborhood, he said.

Up to 95 percent of Cambodia's 12 million people are believed to be Buddhists.

The Dangkor district administrator, Kruoch Phan, said the pagoda's chief monk was defrocked and expelled from the temple for his role in embezzling donations from the public.

"He behaved like a big-brother gang leader, taxing other monks for money donated to them," Kruoch Phan said. He described the expelled monks' behavior as "intolerable" and "embarrassing.