- By Supratik Das
- Fri, 18 Jul 2025 03:29 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Thailand's hallowed Buddhist monkhood has been shaken by a massive sex and extortion scandal after the police arrested Wilawan Emsawat, a woman who is said to have seduced high-ranking monks and blackmailed them for millions of dollars. Thai police on Tuesday detained Wilawan Emsawat, alias Ms Golf, at her high-end condo in Nonthaburi, on the outskirts of Bangkok. The 35-year-old is charged with extortion, money laundering and receipt of stolen property following allegations of seducing monks into romantic relationships and blackmailing them into paying her to keep intimate videos under wraps.
Officers confiscated her phones, which contained more than 80,000 pornographic images and videos involving a minimum of nine Buddhist monks. The police estimated that the extortion racket earned close to 385 million baht (approximately USD 11.9 million or Rs 102 crore) over three years.
Monks Paid Millions To Cover Up Affairs
According to the Royal Thai Police Central Investigation Bureau, the monks funnelled hush money from temple donations meant for spiritual work. Many of the monks involved, including senior abbots from well-known temples, have now been defrocked and expelled from the monkhood. A monk from Bangkok's Wat Tri Thotsathep monastery escaped the monkhood last month from blackmail threats. Emsawat alleges she even has a child with the disappeared abbot, further enraging the public.
The scandal has undermined trust in Thailand's Buddhist establishments, with King Maha Vajiralongkorn revoking invitations to more than 80 monks to his forthcoming 73rd birthday celebrations, alleging "inappropriate conduct that led to mental distress among the Thai people." At the same time, a Senate committee has suggested introducing new law under which women who have sex with monks could be prosecuted, a contentious notion that has provoked indignation among human rights activists who contend monks should take responsibility for their own vows of chastity.
Hypocrisy In The Temples Sparks Public Anger
Columnist Sanitsuda Ekachai of the Bangkok Post characterized the scandal as revealing "a system of lies and hypocrisy among top monks." Critics maintain that while monks depict women as dangers to their spiritual innocence, the scandal reveals profound moral corruption in the monkhood itself. Over 90 per cent of Thais are Buddhists, and the nation has at least 200,000 monks and 85,000 novices on the books at any time. Although scandals over sex and money are nothing new, the rank of those accused has caused widespread soul-searching among Thai faithful.
National police chief Kitrat Panphet pledged action to "restore public trust," promising a new task force to probe monk abuses. A senior lawmaker has also vowed tighter controls, including mandatory disclosure of donations and the criminalization of monk abuse as an offence. "This case does not reflect on Buddhism as a whole," Kitrat said. "It's about a few people doing the wrong thing."
Even after repeated scandals, Thais insist that they will not lose their faith in Buddhist teachings. "You may lose your faith in monks, but lose none in the teachings," said Camphun Parimiphut, who works as a security guard in Maha Sarakham province. Most people, however, are now giving directly to schools or hospitals instead of temples. Thailand's Buddhist temples have suffered repeated scandals. In 2017, police raided a temple, Wat Dhammakaya, and arrested the abbot on charges of money laundering $33 million in donations. In May this year, a monk was arrested for supposedly embezzling nearly 10 USD million for an internet gambling syndicate.
