A woman has been charged with extortion in Thailand after allegedly recording herself having sex with Buddhist monks and then demanding money to support her lifestyle.
Wilawan Emsawat, 35, known as Sika Golf, is accused of blackmailing senior monks at popular temples in several provinces, as well as money laundering and receiving stolen goods, the Bangkok Post reports.
Police said they had uncovered a cache of some 80,000 sexually explicit pictures and videos involving multiple senior monks at various temples across the country after sweeping devices found at her home.
One video shared by police shows a monk reclining on Emsawat on a sofa before she slaps him on the head.
Five mobile devices were said to contain clips and stills of her engaged in sexual acts with several monks, some of whom were still wearing their traditional orange robes, according to the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB).
Emsawat was arrested on Tuesday at her home in Nonthaburi province.
The case has rocked Thailand and brought into focus perceived corruption within the temples.
Prayut Prathetsena, vice-president of the Dharma Army Lawyers Foundation, told Thai PBS that many temples are rich in cash and assets, managed by senior monks.
Monks earn money for leading private Buddhist ceremonies, she explained, and do not pay taxes on their earnings, ‘so their wealth simply accumulates’. Temples receive state funding, and some monks earn fortunes from selling temple amulets.
She explained that ‘it is not unusual for a senior monk to have 50 million baht (£1,147,958) in his personal account’ – in a country where the average wage is around 16,000 baht (£367.35) per month.
‘Neither the donors nor the monks are really at fault. The blame mostly lies with the system,’ Prathetsena told the outlet.
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