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A Buddhist monk has been formally defrocked in Nakhon Si Thammarat, southern Thailand, after covert CCTV footage allegedly captured him having sexual intercourse with a middle-aged female devotee at Wat Wihan Ngam temple on 20 October 2026. The case, confirmed by district officials and local Buddhism authorities, has renewed scrutiny of monastic discipline and temple finances in a country where roughly 90 per cent of the population practises Theravada Buddhism. Daily Dazzling Dawn understands the monk had moved onto the temple grounds under the pretext of restoring the site before villagers, frustrated by what they described as repeated sexual encounters, installed hidden cameras.
Residents told to journalists they had grown weary of behaviour they claimed was an open secret in the community. The footage allegedly shows the monk approaching the woman from behind as she removes her clothes and leans over a chair, apparently unaware that a surveillance camera was positioned inches away. The pair reportedly stopped when they realised someone was approaching during the encounter on 20 October. The woman then casually pulled up her trousers as though nothing had happened.
Separate photographs also emerged allegedly showing the monk groping the woman’s breasts. Villagers claimed the monk had repeatedly engaged in outdoor sexual encounters and had threatened people who discovered his alleged activities. One devotee, identified only as Kittisak, told to journalists: “The monks have a comfortable life that is funded by our donations. They are supported so they can live virtuous lives and be an inspiration to others. But instead he was breaking the most important rule that Buddhist monks must follow.”
District chief Kittipong Rongdech and local Buddhism officials tracked down the monk after the footage was captured. He reportedly admitted his identity when confronted with the evidence. The monk was taken to the ecclesiastical governing authority in Chian Yai district, where he was stripped of his robes and changed into civilian clothes.
A senior monk confirmed that the man’s actions constituted a Parajika offence, one of the most serious violations of the Buddhist monastic code, resulting in the immediate forfeiture of his monkhood. Daily Dazzling Dawn understands that under the disciplinary framework, even “penetration by a finger’s breadth” would make a person permanently ineligible for ordination for the rest of their life. The controversy has also provoked calls for an investigation into donations made to the temple, with devotees demanding a “new abbot with exemplary conduct” to replace the defrocked monk.
The defrocking is the latest controversy to hit the Thai clergy, which has faced numerous sexual and financial cases in recent years, eroding public trust in the religious establishment. In September 2026, Phra Wachirayan Wi, the 66-year-old abbot of the 14th-century Wat Phutthaisawan in Ayutthaya, was accused of embezzling £2 million intended for his monastery after footage showed him having sex on a table in his residence.
In July 2025, Wilawan Emsawat, 35, known as Sika Golf, was arrested for allegedly recording herself having sex with Buddhist monks and extorting them for millions of pounds. Police claimed she received close to £9 million after officers uncovered a cache of some 80,000 photos and videos allegedly used in the blackmail plot. Earlier this year, four Buddhist monks were arrested when police raided the Phrom Sunthon Monastery in Chonburi province and found pornography, sex toys, a penis enlargement pump, a pistol, £2,070 in cash, a contact list of prostitutes and a DVD player with a pornographic disc inside. Three monks allegedly tested positive for methamphetamine.
In November last year, a 60-year-old monk named Chayut was arrested in Samut Prakan, on the outskirts of Bangkok, over an alleged collection of child pornography on his phones following a tip-off from the United States’ National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. In 2018, a Thai court sentenced disgraced former monk Wiraphon Sukphon to 114 years in prison for fraud, money laundering and computer crime after he became known as the “jet set monk” for appearing in a 2013 YouTube video on a private jet with designer bags and cash. He had been defrocked and fled to the US following allegations that he raped a minor before being extradited back to Thailand.
Monks in Thailand take vows of celibacy to detach themselves from worldly desires, which are seen as obstacles to spiritual enlightenment, and they are banned from being alone with women. The ecclesiastical governing authority in Chian Yai has not disclosed whether further legal action will be pursued against the defrocked monk.
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