The anti-government demonstrations that are back on the streets since early this month don't only make us worry about the spread of Covid-19 but also caused an unlikely drama that put a Bangkok temple in the spotlight two weeks ago.
The commotion was triggered by Phra Samu Anant, abbot of Wat Mondop in Taling Chan, who hung a large sign at his temple that read, "Wat Mondop Mai Rap Sop Tamruat" -- meaning the temple wouldn't perform funeral rituals of dead policemen.
He told the media that the sign was symbolic to his disagreement with the violence the police used to disperse the demonstrations. He said that the young protesters only spoke the truth and that any laws that try to shut their mouths should be abolished including Section 112 of the Criminal Code.
He toned down their protests and compared them with the street rallies the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) staged against the government of Yingluck Shinawatra in 2014, which he claimed involved a seizure and burning of government offices.
Yet, the monk insisted that he didn't personally hate the police and only wanted them to reconsider their own roles. He also said that he was still willing to conduct cremation on dead police officers if asked to do so.
His comments went viral on social media and drew a lot of criticism from netizens before he removed the controversial sign.
Soon after, however, he came to realise his own mistakes in an interview with two media personalities from a TV news channel where he confessed that he wasn't aware that many policemen were shot by the protesters and that a police car was torched.
Once he was told what Section 112 of the Criminal Code or lese majeste law was all about, he was quick to say that he wouldn't have touched this issue if he knew what it was.
He was also unable to show any facts to back his accusation that the PDRC protesters burned down state buildings, saying that he only learned about it from word of mouth.
Finally, when asked how come he delivered such baseless and untrue accounts to the media and whether such an act was equivalent to lying and breaking the five precepts in Buddhism, the monk admitted his faults and apologised for what he did.
Now, his abbot job has been suspended pending investigation and I believe that he's got a lesson to remind himself not to jump to a conclusion without studying the facts first.
However, this story reminds me of a similar but much more disturbing drama where a false impression about Covid-19 vaccines among a group of young stars and celebrities caused confusion on social media last month.
The drama started when they posted their strong desire for Pfizer vaccines and called out to other stars to pressure the government to import them from America for Thai people. They claimed that this US-made vaccine was superior to any vaccines available in the country.
At the same time, they openly looked down on Sinovac vaccines from China, which were earlier administered to 700,000 medical staff. They said that they were ineffective to protect them from the virus, citing reports that many hundreds who were mostly fully vaccinated got infected.
They spread such negative sentiments to their fans who promptly followed suit and often posted scornful comments against Chinese-made vaccines and also the government, causing a series of heated debates with other netizens who disagreed with their prejudice.
They refused to listen to the doctors and experts who insisted that no vaccine could make us totally immune to the virus, especially the Delta variant, which is widespread in our country, and that any kind of vaccine could prevent severe symptoms.
However, they quieted down when they were criticised by a group of angry fans in China who also called out other Chinese netizens to ban this group of Thai movie stars and stop supporting them in every way, saying that they were insulting their country.
Today, it's widely known that no vaccine can prevent infection or block transmission of the Delta variant. The number of fully vaccinated people testing positive is rising in many countries, including the US, which is planning to give an additional dose to vulnerable Americans who got the initial two rounds of Pfizer and Moderna shots.
This fact has finally put an end to the drama and I wonder if any of those stars and celebrities feel ashamed for causing such a headache to society with their delusion.
Now, we are progressing with the experiment of mixing and matching vaccines to increase immunity. I wish that those people will let the experts do their jobs and stop posting unwise comments.
Patcharawalai Sanyanusin is a writer for the Life section of the Bangkok Post.