Police have asked the National Office of Buddhism (NOB) for the ID card numbers of all Buddhist monks in Thailand so they could make background checks for miscreants and felons, Pol Maj Gen Jaroonkiat Parnkaew, deputy commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau, (CIB) said yesterday.
There were about 300,000 monks in the country, he said.
Police would also revive all the old cases against monks that the NOB previously dismissed, he said.
The deputy commissioner said cooperation with the NOB had not been smooth in the past. The NOB did not seem serious about solving the problems, reports the Bangkok Post.
Ongoing action would not be lenient, he stressed. “I don’t want these problems to remain a cancer in the side of Buddhism,” he said.
Police were determined to investigate monkly misbehaviour in the interests of protecting Buddhism, but disciplinary authority rested with the NOB, the deputy CIB chief said.
The current uptick in action against misbehaving monks started after the Royal Thai Police Office recently opened a centre dedicated to tackling the issue, Pol Maj Gen Jaroonkiat said.
The centre was overwhelmed with misconduct complaints, including senior monks having sexual relations with women other than “Sika Golf”.
Pol Maj Gen Jaroonkiat was referring to Wilawan “Golf” Emsawat, 35, who was arrested at her home in Nonthaburi province on Tuesday for supporting a senior monk’s embezzlement of temple funds, laundering money and receiving stolen goods.
She is suspected of having sexual relations with about 10 monks, some of them elderly and revered, and receiving and extorting huge sums of money from them.
Police said they have considerable evidence, including videos of Ms Golf involved in sexual activities with monks found stored in her mobile phones.
Police said they intend to lay more charges against her.
Sika is a traditional Thai term used to refer to a woman who is associated with a monk.