Misbehaving monks: Sex scandal shakes Thai Buddhist faithful

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Monks traditionally survive on alms, food offerings and a modest US$170 monthly stipend.

PHOTO: AFP

BANGKOK – Reverence for the saffron-robed Buddhist monkhood is deeply woven into Thai society, but a sex extortion scandal has besmirched the clergy and left the devout questioning their faith.

The police this week arrested a woman – identified as Wilawan Emsawat, who is in her mid-30s – accused of bedding at least 11 monks in violation of their vows of celibacy, before blackmailing them with thousands of secretly taken photos of their trysts.

The monks are said to have paid nearly US$12 million (S$15.4 million),funnelled out of their monasteries, funded by donations from laypeople hoping to increase their merit and prospects for reincarnation.

The scandal provoked outrage over hypocrisy in the monkhood, concern that their status shields them from scrutiny, and soul-searching across society about the role of religion.

“I’m not involved in the religion like I used to be,” 33-year-old motorbike taxi driver Mongkol Sudathip told AFP. “I don’t have full respect for it anymore.”

King Maha Vajiralongkorn has cancelled invitations to more than 80 monks to attend his upcoming 73rd birthday celebrations, citing “inappropriate behaviour that caused mental distress among the Thai people”.

While the 11 monks have been stripped of their robes, the kingdom’s National Office of Buddhism has vowed to “restore public trust” with a sweeping police probe into the grubby affair.

Theravada Buddhism has been the spiritual backbone of Thai identity for more than two millennia, and still shapes national laws banning alcohol on religious holidays and protecting sacred objects.

Thai men