A furious Buddhist monk shrugged off his orange robes to fight a man who accused him of being a fake monk.

The religious follower was waiting for a train at the railway station in Bangkok, Thailand, when another commuter questioned his authenticity.

He accused him of being an imposter because he had stubble and short hair under his wooly hat - a breach of rules for Buddhist monks who must keep their heads, faces and eye-brows clean cut.

The unidentified monk reacted angrily by ripping off his sacred orange robes and throwing punches at the man in front of shocked onlookers on Monday (09/09) morning.

Footage shows the young monk striding towards the accuser hurling his fists while a second monk ambles away to distance himself from the fracas.

Security guards intervened to stop the fight but the raging monk continued pointing and swearing at the man.

Distressed onlooker Soracha Yoobanyong, 20, said that the monk had overreacted to the questions from the victim who ''had no intention to have a quarrel or a fight''.

She said: ''I don't know if he's really the fake monk or not, but he has already made the religion look so bad by acting inappropriately towards another Buddhist while wearing a Buddhism robe.

''Many people think that being a Buddhist monk will give them the priority over others but they are wrong. Wearing the robe doesn't give them power or make them any better. A true Buddhist monk will be humble and their ego will not be insulted.''