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| A Cambodian Buddhist4 monk2 smokes a cigarette in Phnom Penh May 8, 2002. |
Anti-smoking activists enlisted5 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 "Buddhism6 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 puff7 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.
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