Activists Want Monks to Kick Habit

A Cambodian Buddhist monk smokes a cigarette in Phnom Penh May 8, 2002.Anti-smoking activists enlisted Buddhist monks from Thailand, Cambodia and Sri Lanka Wednesday to help fight the tobacco habit, but said one of their main challenges was persuading monks themselves to quit.

The monks -- attending a three-day workshop on "Buddhism and tobacco control" in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh -- aim to become role models for anti-smoking efforts in Asia.

"Buddhist monks are key men in society and are well respected. We need them to educate people not to smoke," said Seng Somony, deputy director of the National Buddhist Institute in Phnom Penh.

"But we have to get monks to quit smoking."

About 36 percent of Cambodia's 59,000 Buddhist monks smoke cigarettes, workshop organizers said.

The habit is so prevalent that packets of cigarettes are a common offering at Cambodian Buddhist ceremonies.

Dr. Suchat Chinoraso, a Buddhist abbot from Thailand, said about 25 percent of his fellow monks smoke. However, those caught taking a puff face a stiff fine, he said.

Buddhist tenets forbid smoking cigarettes as well as using drugs, drinking alcohol, violence, exploiting other human beings and eating meat, a Sri Lankan monk told the workshop.

5月8日戒烟运动者们在全民戒烟运动中得到了来自泰国、柬埔寨和斯里兰卡等国的僧侣们的大力支持，然而殊不知他们面临的主要挑战之一却是如何劝诫僧侣们自己戒烟。

这些僧侣日前正在柬埔寨首都金边参加一个名为"佛教与烟草控制"的研讨会，他们举办此次活动的目的是要为亚洲的禁烟运动树立榜样。

设在金边的柬埔寨国家佛教协会副会长森·索莫尼说："佛教僧侣在社会中的地位举足轻重，受到人们的尊敬。所以需要僧侣们教育人们不要吸烟。"

他还说："但是我们要求他们以身作则，先把吸烟的恶习戒掉。"

此次研讨会的组织者称，在柬埔寨5.9万名僧侣中有36%的人都是"瘾君子"。

在柬埔寨，吸烟在僧侣中间十分盛行，甚至在佛教典礼仪式上，一包包的香烟已经成为普遍的供品了。

来自泰国的寺院主持素察·奇诺拉索说，他所在寺院的僧侣中大约四分之一的人都有吸烟的恶习。但是他还说，如果吸烟被发现的话，这些僧侣将要交付高额的罚金。

一名斯里兰卡的僧侣在研讨会上说，佛教教义规定，僧侣是禁止吸烟的，此外吸毒、酗酒、暴力、食肉和剥削他人都是不允许的。