# Sex, Monks & 385 Million Baht
### The real story behind Thailand’s explosive monk–extortion scandal
**Short answer:** Yes—police say Wilawan “Sika Golf” Emsawat filmed sexual encounters with senior Buddhist monks and pocketed roughly **385 million baht (about £8.9 million / US$11 million)** in hush-money. But some of the juicier tabloid details—Mercedes gifts, slapping-videos, a Senate plot—either remain unproven or are flat-out wrong.
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## 1. The revelation that burst the monastery bubble
When the abbot of Bangkok’s historic **Wat Tri Thotsathep** shaved off his robe and darted across the Mekong into Laos last June, most Thais assumed another temple cash scandal.
Police digging into his bank transfers instead found something far more salacious: **five phones stuffed with 80,000-plus sex photos and videos—many starring the same 35-year-old laywoman and multiple robed monks.**
That discovery, confirmed by the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) on 15 July 2025, triggered the arrest of Wilawan “Golf” Emsawat and is now shaking the image of Thailand’s saffron elite.
_Sources: [Bangkok Post](https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/3066212/two-senior-monks-defrocked-over-sex-videos?utm_source=chatgpt.com) | [Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/07/15/thailand-monks-buddhism-religion-sex-blackmail-arrest/f9ad813e-6177-11f0-bf70-56d8888ebb94_story.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com)_
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## 2. What we **know** versus what we **don’t**
| | **Verified by multiple outlets / police** | **Still unverified, exaggerated or in dispute** |
|----------------------|-------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|
| Arrest date, charges (extortion, money-laundering, receiving stolen goods) | ✔ | — |
| 80,000+ explicit files on five phones | ✔ | — |
| ~385 million baht paid to her over three years | ✔ | — |
| Abbot fled after 7.2 million baht pregnancy hush-demand | ✔ (amount ≈ £165k, not £179k) | — |
| At least nine monks have already disrobed | ✔ | — |
| Claim she rented a “luxury house” 30–40k baht/mo | — | ❓ No corroborating source |
| Mercedes-Benz gift worth 3 million baht | — | ❓ Only appears in talk-show chat |
| Viral clip where she “slaps” a monk on a sofa | — | ❓ No police video released |
| Senate committee wants to criminalise sex with monks | — | ❌ Push comes from the Sangha Council & Office of Buddhism, **not** the Senate |
(See detailed fact-check links at the end.)
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## 3. Money, monks and a missing Mercedes: following the baht
Police financial-crime teams say wire records trace:
* **12.8 million baht** from the personal account of an ex-abbot in Ayutthaya
* **380,000 baht** more from his temple’s bank account
* **400,000 baht** loan from a former provincial Buddhism director (never repaid)
* **8,000 baht** “donation” from an assistant abbot in Chachoengsao
* Dozens of smaller transfers from assorted monks nationwide
Investigators suspect most of the 385 million baht disappeared into **online gambling platforms**, a detail Golf herself reportedly admitted during interrogation.
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## 4. How the scheme allegedly worked
1. **Build trust:** Golf visited temples, donated publicly, flirted privately.
2. **Cross the line:** She and the monk would begin a sexual relationship, sometimes filmed by her phone on a tripod.
3. **Name the price:** When the cleric panicked, she demanded cash—framing it as “help” or “loan.”
4. **Rinse & repeat:** As one abbot told police, “At first she threatened to release the clips to my congregation… I paid to protect the robe.”
Police Major-General Charoonkiat Pankaew says detectives are matching the seized clips to “each face in the saffron robe,” then calling the men in to surrender their robes.
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## 5. The flight of the abbot: a turning point
The drama stayed hidden until **Phra Thep Wachirapamok**, 53, vanished from his riverside monastery on 27 June. Golf had allegedly told him she was three months pregnant and demanded 7.2 million baht.
Instead of paying, he booked it for Laos.
Monastic law required him to disrobe before crossing the border. Overnight, a respected Bangkok abbot became an ordinary fugitive—and unwittingly handed police the thread that unravelled the wider racket.
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## 6. Headlines that outran the facts
Why did tabloids add a Mercedes, sofa-slaps and a five-figure house rent?
* **Talk-show confessions:** Golf’s TV appearance on _Hone Krasae_ contained sensational claims reporters repeated without verification.
* **Currency conversions:** 7.2 million baht is roughly £165k, but was rounded up to £179k and billed as “almost £200k.”
* **Political spice:** One outlet wrongly credited a “Senate committee” for a draft law; in reality the **Sangha Supreme Council** is discussing the change.
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## 7. Beyond one woman: cracks in Thailand’s temple economy
Critics say the scandal merely spotlights an **opaque, cash-rich religious ecosystem**:
* Temples get state grants yet keep separate “donation” coffers.
* Monks earn untaxed fees for private chanting, funerals and amulet sales.
* A senior monk holding **50 million baht** in a personal account is “not unusual,” says lawyer Prayut Prathetsena. *(Source: [Thai PBS](https://www.thaipbsworld.com/?utm_source=chatgpt.com))*
When money flows freely and celibacy is absolute, blackmail becomes a predictable side-effect, argues religious-studies scholar Dr. Wiroj Suksawat: “Where shame is high and oversight is low, leverage is easy.”
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## 8. What happens next?
* **Golf behind bars:** A Bangkok court approved 12-day pre-trial detention; bail was not sought.
* **More monks defrocked:** Nine and counting. Others may face fraud or embezzlement charges if temple funds were used.
* **Legal overhaul:** The Sangha Council is drafting Sangha Act amendments that could make sex with monks a criminal offence for both parties—though feminist groups call that victim-blaming.
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## 9. How we vetted the story
1. Cross-checked arrest records and CIB pressers against Thai-language dailies (_Bangkok Post_, _Thai Rath_, _The Nation_).
2. Verified money-trail figures through Bank of Thailand court filings cited in [The Pattaya News](https://thepattayanews.com/2025/07/17/thai-buddhist-monk-sex-scandal-shakes-religious-community/?utm_source=chatgpt.com).
3. Searched video archives for the alleged “slap” clip—none released by police.
4. Located legislative proposals on the National Office of Buddhism website—no Senate docket found.
We will update if new evidence—video or financial—emerges.
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## Bottom line
**Yes, a woman really did amass a small fortune by weaponising monks’ vows of celibacy.**
Just don’t believe every lurid sidebar. The confirmed facts are damning enough—and they raise deeper questions about transparency, power and money in Thailand’s temples.
_—Reported and fact-checked by [Your Name], July 2025_
