80,000 Nudes And Rs 100 Crore Blackmail: All About Thai Woman Wilawan Emsawat

NDTV

2 days ago

A major sex and extortion scandal has shaken Thailand after police arrested a woman on Tuesday for luring Buddhist monks into sexual relationships and then blackmailing them for money. The case has drawn huge public attention, as it involves monks breaking their vow of celibacy. At least nine abbots and senior monks involved in the scandal have been disrobed and cast out of the monkhood, the Royal Thai Police Central Investigation Bureau said.
Who is Wilawan Emsawat?
Wilawan Emsawat, a woman in her mid-30s, was arrested at her luxury home in Nonthaburi, just north of Bangkok. She's facing charges of extortion, money laundering, and receiving stolen goods. Police, who refer to her as "Ms Golf," said she had sexual relations with at least nine monks.
After seizing her phones, investigators found messages and intimate videos involving other Buddhist leaders. They also discovered that she had used the blackmail money to spend heavily on illegal online gambling.
According to The Times, some monks admitted to having relationships with Wilawan, who reportedly reached out to them on social media. One monk claimed he was in a long-term relationship with her and even received a car from her. But things fell apart when he found out she was seeing another monk-and then she started demanding money.
80,000 Nude Files And $11.9 Million Extortion Scandal (Rs 102 Crore)
According to the BBC, investigators believe Wilawan Emsawat made about 385 million baht (Rs 102 crore) over the past three years. Police said they found over 80,000 photos and videos of her engaged in sexual acts with numerous Buddhist monks in her home, which were used to blackmail monks.
Wilawan Emsawat claims she's given birth to a child.
According to the Daily Star, Wilawan Emsawat claimed she had a child with one of the monks. Police said the case came to light in mid-June when an abbot in Bangkok suddenly left the monkhood after being blackmailed by a woman. The scandal broke when the abbot of Wat Tri Thotsathep monastery went missing. Police say he left to escape Emsawat's blackmail, and now she claims he is the father of her child.
Disciplinary Action and Public Outrage Shake Buddhist Community
According to The Times, nine monks, including several abbots of well-known temples, have been defrocked, and at least two have gone to ground. A committee in the senate has proposed amending the law to allow for the criminal prosecution of women who engage in sexual relations with monks. The idea has angered those who say that men should be held responsible for their own actions.
"The scandal exposes a system of lies and hypocrisy among top monks. The sheer number suggests this isn't an isolated case. It's business as usual behind temple walls," Sanitsuda Ekachai, a columnist for the Bangkok Post, wrote.
"Women have long been depicted in mainstream teachings as "enemies" of monks' spiritual purity. Some temple murals even show them as snakes. That's why the clergy still bans women from Bhikkhuni ordination. And now, when the clergy's moral decay is in full view, it's the woman who takes the fall while the monks are cast as victims," Sanitsuda Ekachai writes.
More than 90 per cent of Thais are Buddhists, and at any one time there are about 200,000 monks and 85,000 novices. Scandals involving the Sangha, or Buddhist monastic community, are not uncommon in Thailand and often involve sex, money or both. But the seniority of the monks involved with Wilawan has made the incident unusual.