The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of the Royal Thai Police has announced the arrest of a woman who allegedly filmed her sex acts with monks and used the videos to blackmail them to the tune of 385m baht ($9.2m).
On Wednesday, the Asia News Network cited the CIB as stating at a press conference that the woman, only referred to as Ms. Golf, had sex with at least nine monks while extorting the money over the past three years.
left the order after being blackmailed
CIB Deputy Commissioner Police Major General Jaroonkiat Pankaew said the case opened on June 18 when the special branch learned Phrathep “Chaokhun Arj” Wachirapamok, the former abbot of Bangkok temple Wat Tri Thotsathep, had left the order after being blackmailed by a woman.
Thai police state that Ms. Golf claimed a baby by the monk and demanded child support of over seven million baht ($215,156). The fall of Phrathep, however, led to the discovery that other monks had also been paying blackmail money to Ms. Golf.
The CIB said that Ms. Golf has withdrawn nearly all the blackmail money, spending some of it on online gambling.
Amid a political vacuum caused by the suspension of Thai PM Paetongtarn Shinawatra, which essentially killed off hopes of integrated casino resorts in Thailand by 2029, the sex tape scandal has prompted the governing body for Thai Buddhism to announce the formation of “a special committee to review monastic regulations.”
