The Thai police arrested a woman who allegedly had sexual relationships with the monks and then used photos and videos to push money out of them.
The woman who calls the MS Golf had sex with at least nine nuns, police said at a press conference on Tuesday. They believe that in the last three years she received about 385 million shoes ($ 11.9 million; £ 8.8 million).
A police spokesman said investigators had found more than 80,000 photos and videos used to blackmail monks after searching for her home.
This scandal is the latest highly respected Buddhist authority, which has been plagued by allegations of nuns in sexual offenses and drug trafficking in recent years.
Police said the case first drew their attention to mid -June when they learned that the abbot had suddenly left a monk in Bangkok after being pulled out by a woman.
Mrs. Golf had a relationship with a monk in 2024. In May, police said. She later said she had his baby and demanded support for children with more than seven million shoes, added.
Then the authorities learned that other monks had a similar transfer of money by Mrs. Golf, who was called “Modus Opeandi” by police.
Police added that they found that almost all the money was withdrawn and that some of them were used for online gambling.
When investigators were looking for a Mrs. Golf house earlier this month, they seized her phones and found more than 80,000 photos and videos she used to blackmail the monks, police said.
It faces several taxes, including extortion, money laundering and receipt of stolen goods.
The police also opened a special line to report to people “misbehaving the monks”.
Police found more than 80,000 photos and videos on the MS Golf phone she got used to blackmailing monks [Thai News Pix]
The scandal prompted the Sangha Supreme Council, the Thai Buddhist management body, to say that it will form a special committee to review monastic regulations.
The government also requires stricter fines, including fines and prison time for monks that violate the monastery code.
This week, King of Thailand Vajiralongkorn canceled the royal leadership, which he was in June. Published, giving higher titles to 81 monks. He mentioned the latest cases of misconduct, which he said “forced Buddhists to suffer greatly in their heads.”
In Thailand, where more than 90% of the population holds Buddhist, monks are highly respected. Many Thai men also decide to temporarily beyond the monks to accumulate good karma.
But lately, the Buddhist institution has been plagued by scandals.
Wirapol Sukphol, a jet monk known for his generous lifestyle, has committed international headlines in 2017 when he has been charged with sexual offenses, fraud and money laundering. And 2022. In the northern northern province of the north, there was no monks left after all four of its monks were arrested in a drug raid and were interfered with.
Despite its many years of criticism of discipline and accountability in Thailand Sangha, many say there have been little change in centuries -old institutions. According to experts, a large part of this problem is its strict hierarchy.
“It is an authoritarian system similar to Thai bureaucracy, where senior monks are like high-ranking officials and junior monks are their subordinates,” said Surraphot Thaweesak, a religious scientist at BBC Thai. “When they see something wrong, they dare not talk because it is very easy to be thrown out of the temple.”
However, some see ongoing police and Sangha council investigations as the main step to the forward reform.
“It is important to reveal the truth that the public can facilitate doubts about Sangha’s innocence,” said Prakirati Statyut, a sociology scientist at the University of Bangkok, Bangkok.
“It depends on whether the Sangha Supreme Council will terminate several weapons and legs to save the organization.”