Monk Steals Second-hand Laptop; Shop Owner Accuses: Damaging the Image of Thai Buddhism

A monk in Thailand walked into a computer store, pretending to be interested in buying a used mobile phone. Taking advantage of a moment when the shop-owning couple was not paying attention, he stole a second-hand laptop, leading the store owner to angrily accuse, "damaging the image of Thai Buddhism."

The incident took place in Nakhon Sawan Province, northern Thailand, at a computer shop located on Sri Thep Road in the Takhli district.

The shop owners, a couple named Oak and Nat, uploaded the CCTV footage to social media on August 24, exposing the entire process of a monk stealing a second-hand laptop from their store.

According to Thai media The Thaiger citing Workpoint News, the couple said in an interview that the monk who committed the theft was around 50 to 60 years old and was wearing monk’s robes.

At the time, the monk pretended to be interested in used mobile phones and other items in the store. Oak was busy processing documents, and Nat was serving a customer, so neither paid special attention to the monk until they noticed something strange after he left.

Nat discovered that a second-hand laptop on display was missing, so she checked the CCTV footage, which then revealed that the monk had stolen the laptop.

The footage shows that after entering the store, the monk glanced around, then quickly put a laptop worth 8,500 baht (about 1,112 ringgit) into his bag before hurrying out.

Afterwards, the shop owner asked local motorcycle taxi drivers about the monk’s whereabouts. The drivers said that the monk had arrived by train, got off at Ban Takhli railway station, and then walked about 2 kilometers to the computer shop.

It is said that the monk also sought alms from market vendors and local residents nearby, and later spent about 150 baht (about 19 ringgit) to hire a driver to take him to Tak Fah district, about 20 kilometers away.

Despite the couple’s best efforts to trace him, they were unable to find the monk involved. They expressed great anger and disappointment, saying that this kind of behavior seriously damages the image of Thai Buddhism.

Additionally, Nat called on all temples to conduct stricter investigations and background checks before allowing men to take ordination, so as to avoid similar incidents from happening again.