AP-Myanmar Monks Face Food Shortage

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Monday October 25 10:38 AM ET
Myanmar Monks Face Food Shortage
By CHIRAVUT RUNGCHAMRATRASAMEE

MAE SOT, Thailand (AP) - Hundreds of Buddhist monks and nuns have illegally
sneaked into Thailand from Myanmar to seek offerings because of food
shortages.

Their plight stems from the Myanmar military regime's closure of the
frontier Oct. 2 in response to Thailand's handling of the takeover of
Myanmar's embassy in Bangkok by armed student activists.

The monks and nuns, who normally eat only what they are given by devotees,
are not getting enough from their own people after the suspension of
cross-border trade sent food prices soaring.

Somchai Issaman, secretary of the Wat Luang temple at this border town, told
The Associated Press on Monday that at least 320 monks and 30 nuns have
sought shelter at the temple, seeking food.

The temple received a good supply of rice, dried food, and other necessities
from worshippers during the past three months of Buddhist Lent, which ended
Sunday, Somchai said.

The monks and nuns come from as many as 80 temples inside Myanmar, also
known as Burma, Somchai said. Their entry into Thailand under the current
circumstances would be illegal on both sides of the border, but police on
the Thai side have looked the other way.

Myanmar has been incensed that Thailand allowed a group of student
activists, who held 38 people hostage in a two-day siege, to fly to the
border and disappear. Thailand has said that letting them go was necessary
to resolve the crisis without bloodshed.

Some 3,000 students from Myanmar have sought refuge in Thailand since street
protests against military rule were crushed by the army a decade ago.