Read more on this topic in Vietnamese.
Thailand on Monday extended the visas of Vietnamese monk Thich Minh Tue and five of his companions who are on a 2,700-kilometer (1,600 mile) barefoot pilgrimage to India.
Minh Tue, 43, became an internet celebrity in Vietnam last year as he walked across the country, carrying a rice cooker pot to collect alms.
Late last year, he left Vietnam to embark on a journey by foot to India, the birthplace of Buddhism. After crossing Laos, he entered Thailand about two months ago and has been walking about 20 kilometers (12 miles) a day, often on scorching asphalt, through the countryside.
But his Thai visa was at risk of expiring this week while he and his entourage were still hundreds of kilometers away from the Myanmar border, meaning he could be deported.
On Monday, the immigration office of Thailand’s Phichit province extended the visas for Minh Tue and five monks walking with him for 30 days, according to Buddhist layman Phuoc Nghiem, who has volunteered to handle legal procedures for the group.
Attempts by RFA Vietnamese to contact the Phichit Immigration Office to confirm the extension went unanswered Monday.
Myanmar decision looms
The group is still in the middle of Thailand, and the monks are trying to decide how to proceed given that Myanmar -- which lies between Thailand and India -- is engulfed in a civil war. Crossing it may be dangerous.
Minh Tue -- “Thich” signifies that he’s a monk -- has said he intends to avoid the closer Mae Sot crossing, citing fighting in the area between rebels and the Myanmar military, which seized power in a 2021 coup.
Instead, he’s leaning towards crossing at Mae Sai, in Thailand’s far north, into Myanmar’s Shan state.
He has also raised the possibility of flying to Sri Lanka, and then going to India, tracing the route in reverse along which Buddhism first arrived in Thailand.
Last year, Minh Tue and his simple lifestyle struck a chord in Vietnam where social media posts of his barefoot walks went viral and well-wishers came out in droves.
Vietnam’s state-sanctioned Buddhist sangha has not officially recognized him as a monk, but he has nonetheless garnered widespread admiration and support.
At one point, Vietnamese authorities, leery of his popularity, announced he had “voluntarily retired.”
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Vietnamese state media had not broadcast any news about Minh Tue’s pilgrimage -- until Feb. 22, when Hanoi Television posted a report on its YouTube channel titled “YouTubers Cause Chaos to Monk Thich Minh Tue’s on-foot Pilgrimage.”
The report focused on the YouTubers following the monk group, accusing them of spreading “sensational” and “divisive” information for “personal gain.”
It also highlighted what it describes as “internal conflicts” within the group, calling it a “clash of group interests.”
Minh Tue’s group “disturbed the security and public order” in areas they passed through and the local police had to “take them to their headquarters for resolution,” according to the report.
When RFA contacted YouTubers accompanying the monk in Thailand about Hanoi Television’s claims, one YouTuber named Tran Nguyen said that he and others are adhering to Thai law, and not disturbing local public security and order.
In a conversation with RFA, independent journalist Nam Viet from Ho Chi Minh City said that if state media is criticizing the YouTubers following Minh Tue for “unprofessional reporting” and “spreading chaotic information,” Hanoi Television should have sent its own reporter to cover the journey.
Translated by Ann Vu. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.