A heavy rainstorm caused a flash flood that swept a car carrying monks to a funeral into a pond in front of Nong Ta Noet Temple, Ratchaburi Province. One monk drowned and died.
At 19:30 on 3 June 2026, Sub-Lieutenant Sukit Tanjaroen, deputy investigation officer at Chom Bueng Police Station in Chom Bueng District, Ratchaburi Province, received a report of a car falling into a pond in front of Nong Ta Noet Temple, Village No. 10, Pak Chong Subdistrict, Chom Bueng District. One monk was reported to have drowned along with the car. Upon receiving the report, he coordinated with diver teams from the Pathom Borom Ratchanusorn Foundation and Prachanukool Ratchaburi Foundation to assist in the search before heading to the scene, where heavy rain was falling.
At the scene, locals had already helped pull the car out of the pond. It was a brown Toyota Camry with license plate number PM-751 Bangkok. The area was flooded, with water rising over the road leading to the temple.
Sub-Lieutenant Chumphon Kanha, head of the Pak Chong Subdistrict patrol, said the car was carrying two monks from Phu Khae Temple, about 3 kilometers from Nong Ta Noet Temple, to attend a funeral ceremony there. At the time, heavy rain caused flash floods that overwhelmed the road to the temple. The disciple driving the car attempted to cross the flooded road but was swept into the pond in front of the temple. Both the disciple and one monk managed to swim out after opening the car windows in time. However, the other monk, who was elderly and unable to swim, disappeared underwater along with the car. Villagers who heard the news came to help pull the car out, but the monk was missing and believed to be trapped at the bottom of the pond, prompting a request for divers from the foundations.
Mr. Panyophat, 36, the disciple driving the car, said that when he reached the temple entrance, he saw the road was flooded but thought it was shallow enough to cross. However, the water swept the car into the pond. They had opened all the car windows and escaped, but the elder monk, who could not swim, drowned. He said he was very shocked and struggled to get out. The other monk who survived was wearing a prosthetic leg and has since returned to the temple, also very shaken by the incident.
Rescue workers from the foundations then dived to search for the submerged monk, identified as 60-year-old Phra Banjerd, a resident monk of Phu Khae Temple. After more than an hour, they found the body and retrieved it to send for an autopsy before handing it over to the family for funeral rites. Relatives and disciples gathered at the scene expressed deep sorrow while waiting for the search operation to conclude.