Monks and novices may be forbidden from driving a car or motorcycle, as it is considered inappropriate, and also asked not to hitch a ride.
The issue was discussed at a Sangha assembly attended by 83 chiefs and deputy chiefs of regions and provincial sangha.
Phra Prommolee, assistant abbot of Wat Paknam Phasi Charoen and chief of region 5 sangha, said some monks and novices are openly driving vehicles on highways and in communities. This was inappropriate behaviour and a cause of concern to many Buddhists.
The Sangha meeting is therefore considering issuing a regulation to prohibit monks and novices from driving a car or a motorbike. Those violating the regulation would face punishment, ranging from the lowest level of warning up through suspension from titles for up to three years and at the extreme expulsion from the monkhood.
“There will be a later meeting to consider the punishment but, in the meantime, all sangha in every province will be informed and all those under their supervision must be warned not to breach this proposed rule,” said Phra Prommolee.
The meeting also resolved that monks should not hitchhike on highways, as it might annoy road users.
He said many people would stop and pick up a monk, but some monks had used this opportunity to ask drivers to take them all the way to their destination and some also asked for money.
This behaviour also opened opportunities for people with bad intentions to pretend to be monks and commit crimes, causing problems for the well-intentioned driver and damaging the monkhood's image.
The assembly's intention is to deny opportunity for inappropriate behaviour by monks and novices.