Barry Duke, the Angry Atheist

Pointing and laughing at religious lunacy for more than half-a-century

Thai king takes action against monks after a major sex and extortion scandal engulfs Buddhist temples

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THE arrest of a woman called Ms Golf — accused of luring Buddhist monks into sexual encounters and subsequently extorting $11-million from them — has rocked Thailand and prompted King Vajiralongkorn, above, to revoke a royal command he had issued in June conferring higher titles on 81 monks.

He said this latest scandal — there have been earlier ones involving money laundering, drug and gambling — “caused Buddhists to suffer greatly in their minds.”

The video below says the arrest of Ms Golf, who filmed her trysts with the monks then got them by the balls with her blackmail tactics, garnered widespread public attention.

According to the Royal Thai Police Central Investigation Bureau, at least nine abbots and senior monks implicated in the case have been stripped of their robes and expelled from the monkhood, the video says.

In a TV interview, the woman at the heart of the scandal said she had developed a “splurging attitude” as her monk lovers lavished her with shopping trips worth up to $90,000 a day.

How in in the name of fat Buddha did the monks, who take vows of chastity and poverty, get their hands on the amounts involved?

According to France24, they plunderd almost $12 million from their monasteries, funded by donations from Buddhists “hoping to increase their merit and prospects for reincarnation.”

France24 quoted motorcycle taxi driver Mongkol as saying he now prefers to donate to hospitals or schools for underprivileged children.

It feels more meaningful than giving money to temples.

In 2017, police raided Wat Dhammakaya temple north of Bangkok, arresting its former abbot over allegations of laundering $33 million in public donations.

This May, police held another monk in the capital over allegations of embezzling nearly $10 million from a temple for an online gambling network.

Buddhism scholar Danai Preechapermprasit said repeated scandals —especially among senior monks — have “shaken people to the core”.

People question whether donations are used for spiritual significance or personal desire. I think Thailand has reached a point where it’s difficult for monks to even walk down the street.

A powerful lawmaker has pledged tighter regulations within three months — including mandatory donation disclosures and laws treating monk misconduct as a criminal offence.

“This case does not represent Buddhism as a whole,” said national police chief Kitrat Panphet on Thursday, pledging a new task force to probe misbehaving monks.

It’s about a few individuals doing wrong.

Hat tip: BarrieJohn

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4 responses to “Thai king takes action against monks after a major sex and extortion scandal engulfs Buddhist temples”

  1. malcolmjdodd Avatar
    malcolmjdodd

    When visiting a Buddhist monastery in Sri Lanka with my daughter and her best school friend (both girls were age 16 and we had just been kicked out as teachers by a charity), the girls were offered work teaching English to the monks and novices, however, the monks were so creepy and lecherous looking that we turned them down. The girls decided to teach English in The Foundation of Goodness in Seenigama (where the worst train accident in history had occurred on 26 December 2004).

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  2. Vanity Unfair Avatar
    Vanity Unfair

    Moral lapses in a state religion cause the king to take punitive measures….
    Dear Charles………

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
    1. malcolmjdodd Avatar
      malcolmjdodd

      … Dear Mr Charles Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg

      When you can find time from talking to your pansies your siblings and other inanimate objects and praying five times daily facing mecca, will you please join me, and well over half of your fellow citizens, on our journey away from woo-woo into the real, wonderful and inspiring life of science, nature and rationalism.

      Sincerely

      Citizen Malcolm

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  3. barriejohn Avatar
    barriejohn

    $11 million…

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