An intoxicated Buddhist monk drove off in a public bus parked at a depot in Samut Prakan province early Tuesday morning, police said.
From Krobkruakao.com
Police patrols were ordered to stop the Route 21 bus, which normally travels between Wat Khu Sang and Phrahurat. The bus was later found abandoned about five kilometres away on Khu Sang-Pracha Uthit road in tambon Bang Pla Kot of Phra Samut Chedi district. The thief was nowhere to be found.
The bus's regular driver Kamolsak Maneechansuk, 40, followed the bus on a motorcycle. He told police that he left the bus motor running at the depot, never thinking it would be stolen, when he got out briefly to pick up something. When he returned the bus had already disappeared. He was told by other workers that a monk who appeared to be drunk had driven off in the bus.
Police later found 37-year-old Phra Yotpetch Khunwanchum strolling nearby. He was wearing only the lower half of his robe and was incoherent when spoken to. Police took him to the station.
After he sobered up, the monk admitted he drank an alcoholic beverage to help with indigestion. He said he could not remember what happened after that and regained consciousness only while he was sitting in the bus. He also confessed that he had taken some methamphetamine supplied by a young monk last month.
He tested positive for the drug and will face charges, police said.