Thai

The Thai police arrested a woman claimed to have sexual relations with the monks, then used the photos and videos of the verbs to blackmail the money from them.

Police said at a press conference on Tuesday that the woman calling “Mrs. Golf”, extorting at least nine monks. They believe that it had received about 385 million baht (11.9 million dollars; 8.8 million pounds) during the past three years.

Police spokesman said the investigators who searched for her home found more than 80,000 pictures and videos used to blackmail the monks.

This scandal is the latest in the esteemed Buddhin Foundation in Rock Thailand, which has been afflicted in recent years with the claims of monks who participate in sex crimes and drug trafficking.

The police said the case first caught their attention in mid -June, when they learned that the head of the monastery in Bangkok suddenly left the bet after a woman had blackmailed him.

Police said that Mrs. Golf “had a relationship with the monk in May 2024. They later added that she had a child and demanded that the child support more than seven million pace.

Then the authorities discovered that the other monks transferred the money to Mrs. Golf – which the police described as a “way to work”.

The police added that they found that almost all the money had been withdrawn and that some of them had been used in the online gambling.

The police said that when the investigators searched the house of Mrs. Golf earlier this month, they seized her phones and found more than 80,000 photos and videos that she used to blackmail the monks.

It faces multiple fees, including blackmail, money laundering, and stolen goods.

The police also opened a hot line for people to report “miscarriages.”

The scandal prompted the SANGHA Supreme Council – the ruling body of Thai Buddhism – saying that it will form a special committee to review the monastic regulations.

The government is also pressing for harsh penalties – including fines and prison time – for monks who violate the monks.

This week, the King of Thailand, Vaglerongcorn, canceled a royal leadership he issued in June granting higher titles to 81 monks. He referred to the last cases of misconduct, which said, “It caused the Buddhists to be largely suffering in their minds.”

In Thailand, where more than 90 % of the population is Buddhin, the monks are very veiled. Many Thai men also choose the system temporarily as monks to assemble a good vine.

But the Buddhist Foundation was afflicted with scandals in the recent past.

Wirapol sukphol, a monk who determines the aircraft known as his lifestyle, occupied the headlines of international newspapers in 2017 when he was accused of sexual crimes, fraud and money laundering. In 2022, a temple was left in the northern province of Phytchabun without any monks after the arrest of his four monks in a drug raid and imposed.

Despite years of criticism about disciplinary and accountability issues within the Thai Sangha, many say there was no real change in the centuries -old institution. Experts say a large part of the problem lies in the strict hierarchical sequence.

“It is an authoritarian system that resembles a Thai bureaucracy, where major monks, such as high -ranking officials and novice monks, are their subordinates,” said religious researcher Suraphot Thaweesak. “When they see something inappropriate, they do not dare speak because it is very easy to expel the temple.”

But some see the ongoing investigations, by the police and the Sanga Council, as a major step to move forward in the reform that affects it.

“The important thing is to reveal the truth so that the audience can reduce their doubts about the innocence of Sangga,” said Brakari Satasut, a sociology researcher at the University of Thamasa in Bangkok.

“This depends on whether the Sanga Supreme Council will cut some weapons and legs to save the organization.”