By Pravit Rojanaphruk
Senior Staff Writer
BANGKOK — An aristocrat and retired army major general today suggested the junta should deal with protesting monks by sending hired coyote girls, prostitutes, female masseuses and female soldiers to disperse any future protests instead of male troops.
Coming a day after thousands of monks clashed with soldiers briefly at a grand Buddhist Park west of Bangkok, retired Maj. Gen. HSH Prince Chulcherm Yugala weighed in on Facebook early Tuesday morning with his suggestion, saying that physical contact with women would make the monks impure and cost them their celibate status.
Scenes of monks and soldiers pushing and shoving, with a monk grappling a soldier in a headlock after soldiers tried to block upward of 30,000 monks from entering the park in Nakhon Pathom province, caused a public stir. The monks wanted to protest in support of their candidate for the post Supreme Patriarch and demand Buddhism be formally established as the national religion.
Hundreds of Monks Clash with Military West of Bangkok (Video)
At right, retired Maj. Gen. HSH Prince Chulcherm Yugala
Chulcherm, 69, said deploying female forces to come into physical contact with the monks was a practical solution: It would serve to get the monks disrobed, while alleged “fake” monks who did not surrender their robes could then be arrested.
Chulcherm, who once served as president of Rajvithi Football Club, laid it out thusly:
“When the mob of monks and fake monks arrives, we will have women soldiers, women police, standing in the front row to spearhead the clash with the monks and nuns, while male soldiers will be behind. If there aren’t enough women soldiers or police, then force or ask (for the country, army and the National Council for Peace and Order), for the cooperation of hired masseuses, be it traditional or modern, red-light women, coyotes and [female] market vendors for reinforcement,” he wrote.
If they are real monks, he said, officers can proceed to defrock them, as they have become tainted through the direct contact.
Fifteen hours after the post was made, it had gathered over 2,500 Likes and 130 comments, mostly in support of Chulcherm’s proposal.
Pravit Rojanaphruk can be reached at [email protected] and @PravitR.
Follow Khaosod English on Facebook and Twitter for news, politics and more from Thailand. To reach Khaosod English about this article or another matter, please contact us by e-mail at [email protected].
