80,000 nude files, Rs 102 crore in extortion: How a sex scandal toppled Thailand's top monks

Indian Express

5 days ago

It started with a whisper inside temple walls. A respected abbot vanished overnight. Rumours swirled — of sex, blackmail, and betrayal. And then came the name: Wilawan Emsawat.
But what started as a string of silenced scandals has now exploded into a national reckoning. Nine senior monks — abbots, no less — have been defrocked. Others are in hiding. Here is what happened? and how it came out?
Wilawan Emsawat, also known as 'Ms Golf', was arrested this week from her luxury home in Nonthaburi, just outside Bangkok. In her mid-30s, Wilawan is accused of orchestrating a massive blackmail racket targeting Buddhist monks across Thailand. Police say she seduced monks, recorded intimate moments with them, and extorted large sums of money to keep the videos private.
She's been charged with extortion, money laundering, and receiving stolen property. Investigators found thousands of explicit photos and videos involving monks on her devices, which were allegedly used for blackmail over a period of three years.
Wilawan has not yet commented fully on the charges against her, and it remains unclear whether she has legal representation.
However, as per The Guardian, in a televised interview with Thai media on Wednesday, she acknowledged having romantic relationships with two monks and a religious scholar. She claimed the men lavished her with expensive gifts — including a Mercedes-Benz SLK200, large bank transfers, and even a personal debit card. While speaking candidly, Wilawan expressed remorse over the entanglements, admitting she had genuinely fallen in love.
The Royal Thai Police say Wilawan extorted approximately 385 million baht (Rs 102 crore) over the last few years. Her operation reportedly followed a pattern — she would befriend the monk, lure him into a relationship, obtain compromising material, and then begin making financial demands. Some monks admitted to falling in love with her; one said she gave him a car.
'We checked her financial trail and found that it involves many temples,' an official from the Thai police's central investigation bureau told a press briefing on Tuesday, The Guardian reported. 'After we seized her mobile, we checked and found that there are several monks involved, and several clips and Line chats,' he added, referring to the popular messaging app.
According to the BBC, over 80,000 nude images and videos were recovered, including footage shot in Wilawan's home. Authorities say the money was partly funneled into illegal online gambling.
The scandal first surfaced in mid-June when the abbot of the prestigious Wat Tri Thotsathep monastery abruptly left the monkhood. Police now say he was one of Wilawan's targets and fled after being blackmailed, with a a demand of 7 million baht in child support. Wilawan has since claimed that he fathered her child.
So far, nine monks — including several abbots — have been defrocked, and at least two have gone into hiding. A Thai senate committee is considering a controversial legal amendment to criminalise women who have sex with monks — a proposal that has triggered criticism from gender rights advocates.
Bangkok Post columnist Sanitsuda Ekachai condemned the narrative framing monks as victims and women as seductresses. She pointed out that traditional Buddhist teachings in Thailand often portray women as threats to male spiritual purity — a belief that has long blocked women from becoming fully ordained monks (Bhikkhunis).
'Women have long been depicted in mainstream teachings as 'enemies' of monks' spiritual purity. Some temple murals even show them as snakes. That's why the clergy still bans women from Bhikkhuni ordination.'
'This scandal exposes a system of lies and hypocrisy among senior monks,' Ekachai wrote. 'The sheer number suggests this isn't an isolated case. It's business as usual behind temple walls.'
Religious scholars say the core issue lies in the rigid hierarchical structure of the monkhood, which discourages whistleblowing. '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.'
More than 90% of Thais identify as Buddhists, with over 200,000 monks and nearly 85,000 novices at any time. While scandals involving monks and misconduct are not new, the sheer scale and seniority of this case has triggered wider concerns about corruption, moral decay, and unchecked power within Thailand's Buddhist clergy.
The Sangha Supreme Council, the governing body of Thai Buddhism, has now announced it will form a special committee to review disciplinary codes for monks. Meanwhile, the Thai government is considering tougher laws that could impose jail time and fines on monks who violate monastic codes. In a sign of royal disapproval, King Vajiralongkorn revoked royal titles conferred to 81 monks, citing their misconduct as damaging to the faith and mental well-being of the public.
(With inputs from BBC, The Guardian, AP)