Thailand: Ms. blackmail monks and captivates millions

The Thai police have arrested a woman who has received sexual relationships with several Buddhist monks and who is then said to have pushed them into high payments with intimate recordings. The case in Thailand causes a sensation nationwide: at least nine high -ranking monks, including abbots, have already been released from the monk stand, as reported, among other things, the “Bangkok Post”.

The accused, Wilawan Emsawat (35), was arrested on Tuesday in her house in the province of Nonthaburi north of Bangkok. The police accuse the woman blackmail, money laundering and the preservation of stolen funds. Investigators were able to demonstrate money flows from temple accounts to Wilawan’s private bank details – including transfers of a senior monk from Nordthailand.

According to the police, Wilawan is said to have specifically contacted high -ranking monks, built up love relationships and then blackmailed with payments. In the past three years, a total of around 385 million baht (almost CHF 9.5 million) should have flowed on their accounts. According to the police, a large part of it was invested in online gambling.

The investigation came in after the abbot of a well -known temple in Bangkok suddenly resigned. According to Jaroonkiat Pankaew, deputy commissioner of the senior police authority, Wilawan had informed the monk that she was pregnant and “asked” 7.2 million baht (around CHF 177,000). “This woman is dangerous, we had to arrest them as soon as possible,” said Jaroonkiat at a media conference in Bangkok.

When evaluating their mobile phones, the investigators met with tens of thousands of pictures, videos and chat history. Many of them indicated intimate contacts with several monks and could have been used for extortion, according to the police. Wilawan has not commented on since she was arrested. In an interview before the arrest, she had granted a relationship with a monk and claimed that she even gave him money.

The scandal now also draws attention to the large sums of money that circulate in temples. This would be in stark contradiction to the ascetic ideal of monk life. In Thailand, most monks of the Theravada tradition, which prescribes celibacy and even prohibits the easy touch of women. There are always scandals in Buddhist circles in Thailand, but so rarely so many senior clergymen are rarely affected.

In response, the incumbent Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai ordered a review of the applicable laws for temples and monks. The transparency in the finances of religious institutions is also to be improved, as government spokesman Jirayu Hungsub announced.

The police have now set up a Facebook page on which clues to misconduct from monks can be reported. “We will check monks across the country,” said investigator Jaroonkiat. “I think the consequences of these investigations will bring many changes.”