‘This is a patient’: Thai nurse defies Buddhist taboo to treat monks after fatal crash
A nurse, Wiwat Laonoi (right), assists injured Buddhist monks after a pickup truck driven by an 11-year-old crashed into their roadside procession in Mukdahan province, northeastern Thailand, on July 2, 2026. The crash killed 10 monks and left 10 others injured. — AFP pic
First Published: Friday, 03 Jul 2026 8:13 PM MYT
BANGKOK, July 3 — A nurse in Thailand challenged Buddhist customs when she stepped in to treat the victims of a car accident that killed 10 monks.
An 11-year-old boy, who took his parents’ pickup truck without permission, ploughed at speed into a procession of 35 monks and five lay followers in northeastern Thailand yesterday.
Minutes later Wiwat Laonoi stepped in to help, despite the Buddhist taboo in which women cannot touch monks and vice versa.
“People told me, ‘Wait, that’s a monk!’, but I said it doesn’t matter, right now, this is a patient,” she told AFP.
Wiwat, who has been a nurse for nearly four decades, said she was the first responder at the “massive” accident, adding that she had “never seen anything like it”.
“No other responders (had) arrived yet, it was just me,” the 61-year-old said adding that she “had to stay clear-headed”.
Wiwat immediately checked pulses, performed CPR, and coordinated with the local hospital, moving from one victim to the next at speed.
Five monks died at the scene on Thursday, and another five died later in hospital. As of Friday, 10 other people were still hospitalised—two in critical condition and eight others with non-life-threatening injuries.
Wiwat was travelling with hospital employee Parichat Kochakueng at the time, who filmed her as she worked.
“It looked really scary, a lot of monks laying on the road,” Parichat said.
Wiwat is from Mukdahan province, where the accident happened, and hopes to keep volunteering in communities with limited medical care after her retirement coming up in September.
“As a Thai, as a nurse, I’m very proud, I got to use what I know to help my fellow human beings,” she said. — AFP
Two monks and a Woman — Zen story
A senior monk and a junior monk were traveling together. At one point, they came to a river with a strong current. As the monks were preparing to cross the river, they saw a very young and beautiful woman also attempting to cross. The young woman asked if they could help her cross to the other side.
The two monks glanced at one another because they had taken vows not to touch a woman.
Then, without a word, the older monk picked up the woman, carried her across the river, placed her gently on the other side, and carried on his journey.
The younger monk couldn’t believe what had just happened. After rejoining his companion, he was speechless, and an hour passed without a word between them.
Two more hours passed, then three, finally the younger monk could contain himself any longer, and blurted out “As monks, we are not permitted a woman, how could you then carry that woman on your shoulders?”
The older monk looked at him and replied, “Brother, I set her down on the other side of the river, why are you still carrying her?”
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This simple Zen story has a beautiful message about living in the present moment. How often do we carry around past hurts, holding onto resentments when the only person we are really hurting is ourselves.
We all go through times in life when other people say things or behave in a way that is hurtful towards us. We can chose to ruminate over past actions or events, but it will ultimately weigh us down and sap our energy.
Instead we can choose to let go of what doesn’t serve us anymore and concentrate on the present moment. Until we can find a level of peace and happiness in the present circumstances of our lives, we will never be content, because ‘now’ is all we will ever have.
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