Thai police have arrested a woman who allegedly had sexual relations with monks, and then used photos and videos of the acts to extort money from them.
The woman, who police are calling “Ms Golf”, had sex with at least nine monks, police said at a press conference on Tuesday. They believe she received around 385 million baht ($11.9m; £8.8m) over the past three years.
Investigators who searched her house found more than 80,000 photos and videos used to blackmail the monks, the police spokesman said.
This scandal is the latest to rock Thailand’s much revered Buddhist institution, which in recent years has been plagued with allegations of monks engaging in sex offences and drug trafficking.
Police said the case first came to their attention in mid-June, when they learned that an abbot in Bangkok had suddenly left the monkhood after being extorted by a woman.
Ms Golf “had a relationship” with the monk in May 2024, police said. She later claimed to have his baby and demanded child support of more than seven million baht, they added.
Authorities then discovered that other monks had similarly transferred money to Ms Golf – which police called her “modus operandi”.
Police added they found that nearly all of the money has been withdrawn and some of it had been used for online gambling.
When investigators searched Ms Golf’s house earlier this month, they seized her phones and found more than 80,000 photos and videos that she had used to blackmail the monks, police said.
She is facing multiple charges including extortion, money laundering and receiving stolen goods.
The police have also opened a hotline for people to report “misbehaving monks”.
The scandal has prompted the Sangha Supreme Council – the governing body for Thai Buddhism – to say it will form a special committee to review monastic regulations.
The government is also pushing for harsher penalties – including fines and jail time – for monks who breach the monastic code.
This week, Thailand’s King Vajiralongkorn revoked a royal command he had issued in June conferring higher titles to 81 monks. He cited the recent cases of misconduct, which he said have “caused Buddhists to suffer greatly in their minds”.
In Thailand, where more than 90% of the population identify as Buddhist, monks are highly revered. Many Thai men also choose to temporarily ordain as monks to accumulate good karma.
But the Buddhist institution has been plagued by scandals in the recent past.
Wirapol Sukphol, a jet-setting monk known for his lavish lifestyle, made international headlines in 2017 when he was charged with sex offences, fraud and money laundering. And in 2022, a temple in the northern province of Phetchabun was left without any monks after all four of its monks were arrested in a drug raid and were disrobed.
Despite years of criticism about disciplinary and accountability issues within the Thai Sangha, many say there has been little real change in the centuries-old institution. A big part of the problem lies with its strict hierarchy, say experts.
“It is an authoritarian system similar to the Thai bureaucracy where senior monks are like high-ranking officials and junior monks are their subordinates,” religious scholar Suraphot Thaweesak told BBC Thai. “When they see something inappropriate, they do not dare to speak up because it is very easy to be kicked out of the temple.”
But some see ongoing investigations, both by the police and the Sangha council, as a key step to push ahead with much-needed reform.
“The important thing is to reveal the truth so that the public can ease their doubts about the innocence of the Sangha,” said Prakirati Satasut, a sociology scholar at Bangkok’s Thammasat University.
“It depends on whether the Supreme Sangha Council will cut off some arms and legs to save the organization.”