Woman who 'seduced and blackmailed Buddhist monks' caught by Thai police
A woman who allegedly 'seduced and blackmailed' a string of Buddhist monks has been arrested by police in Thailand.
The Southeast Asian nation has been rocked in recent weeks by an emerging sex scandal involving a number of senior monks, with the behaviour falling foul of a strict celibacy rule in place for ordained members of the faith. At least nine abbots and senior monks involved have been disrobed and cast out of the monkhood, the Royal Thai Police Central Investigation Bureau said. On Tuesday, Wilawan Emsawat, in her mid-30s, was arrested at her home in Nonthaburi province north of Bangkok. She is accused of enticing Buddhist monks into sexual relationships, before pressuring them into making large payments to cover up their intimacy.
Charges against her include extortion, money laundering and receiving stolen goods. Police said they traced money transferred to her by a senior monk from a bank account belonging to his temple in northern Thailand.
Wilawan has not made a statement since her arrest, and it is unclear if she has legal representation. Speaking to local media before her arrest, she acknowledged a relationship with one monk and said she had given him money.
Police said Wilawan deliberately targeted senior monks for financial gain, and said they found several monks had transferred large amounts of money after she initiated romantic relationships with them.
Her bank accounts received around 385 million baht (£8.8 million) in the past three years, but most of the funds were spent on online gambling websites, police said.
Jaroonkiat Pankaew, deputy commissioner of Thailand's Central Investigation Bureau, said the investigation began last month after an abbot of a famous temple in Bangkok abruptly left the monkhood.
The intelligence service - equivalent to the the UK's National Crime Agency or US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) - has since set up a Facebook page for people to report misbehaving monks
Acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai has meanwhile ordered authorities to review and consider tightening existing laws related to monks and temples to restore faith in Buddhism, government spokesperson Jirayu Houngsub said yesterday.
He added: "We will investigate monks across the country. I believe that the ripple effects of this investigation will lead to a lot of changes."
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