Two senior monks have been defrocked following the seizure of sex videos and over 80,000 images featuring sex between a woman and high-ranking clergy at well-known temples in Bangkok and other provinces.
Officers from the police Anti-Corruption Division (ACD) set out on Wednesday to ask senior monks who had allegedly been romantically involved with a woman to voluntarily leave the monkhood.
The sex scandal was exposed after ACD police recovered over 80,000 images and videos from five mobile phones belonging to the woman, identified as “Sika Kor”, during a search of her home on July 4. The images showed intimate affairs between her and senior monks at well-known temples.
Authorities have so far identified eight monks.
The first location police visited was Wat Paknam Phasi Charoen in Bangkok, but the assistant abbot had left the temple the day before and travelled to Chiang Mai. Police found him in Mae Taeng.
Police later went to Wat Sothon Wararam Worawihan in Chachoengsao province to meet the assistant abbot but he too was absent when the officers arrived.
His vehicle was also missing, prompting a search to track his whereabouts.
On Wednesday afternoon, police went to find the abbot of Wat Phra Phutthachai in Saraburi. The monk was caught in Samut Prakan.
After officers presented him with videos and images featuring him having sex with the woman, he agreed to leave the monkhood.
