by Lindsay Murdoch
Bangkok: Thai officials are flying to the United States to seek the extradition of a flamboyant defrocked monk at the centre of sex and money laundering scandals that captivated predominantly Buddhist Thailand. The extradition of Wirapol Sukphol, 38, from California – where he has founded a cult – comes as Thailand’s military government moves to crack down on misbehaving monks following a series of high-profile sex, drug and corruption scandals.
Most of Thailand’s 300,000 monks are held in high regard as keepers of the national religion. But the government wants all monks to undergo background checks to reveal any criminal offence or reports of drug use, and then be issued with digitalised smart cards that would record their monastic histories.
Eleven-year-old Satunom “Nom” Apipat, left, with his mother Salakjit “Ying” Apipat (centre) and grandmother Phey Sihawong. Ying says she gave birth to Nom after being raped by rogue monk Wirapol Sukphol. Photo: Lindsay Murdoch
“The move is to prevent fake monks using religion, or suspected wrongdoers from hiding their illegal acts behind orange robes,” Ormsin Chivapruck, an official at the prime minister’s office, told reporters. The government has already forced more than 46,000 temples to submit their financial accounts to authorities, amid claims of irregularities. Wirapol fled Thailand in 2013, after video clips went viral on the internet showing him travelling aboard a private jet carrying a Louis Vuitton bag and flicking through a huge wad of US dollar bills.
A massive replica of Thailand’s celebrated Emerald Buddha statuette which rogue monk Wirapol Sukphol had built. Photo: Lindsay Murdoch
Thai investigators estimate he amassed a fortune estimated at more than $32 million from followers, many of whom believed his claims he could walk on water, talk to deities, see into the future and was immune to cobra venom. He built what he claimed was the largest replica of the Emerald Buddha that is housed in Bangkok’s Grand Palace, and had a fleet of more than 100 luxury cars and would travel throughout north-east Thailand with a police or military escort.
Monks and worshippers block the road outside the Dhammakaya Temple, north of Bangkok, last year. Photo: AP
Thai media published details of him having had sex with at least eight women. In Isaan village, where he was sent as young monk in 2000, Wirapol allegedly raped a 13-year-old girl who then gave birth to a son.
The Dhammakaya Temple has been at the centre of financial controversies. Photo: AP
Referring to himself in Thailand as Luang Pu, a title reserved for senior respected monks, Wirapol was expelled from the monkhood in absentia after his flaunting of immense wealth and boasting of supernatural powers.
Police say he will face charges including rape, child abduction and money laundering if extradition is approved in the US, where he has become a citizen. Meanwhile, Thai authorities are continuing to search for 73-year-old Phra Dhammachayo, one of the country’s best known figures, who is accused of accepting millions of dollars from a local credit union and other charges.
For 23 days earlier this year, 4000 police and soldiers besieged his Dhammakaya Temple demanding he surrender.
Phra Dhammachayo, who is said to have three million followers, insists he is innocent and his aides say he is too ill to face trial.
The Dhammakaya Temple, which is 10 times the size of the Vatican and sits on the outskirts of Bangkok, has been linked in the past to former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup and is living in exile to avoid jail.
Prosecutors say they have drawn up more than 350 charges relating to the temple’s finances.
Source smh.com.au
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