At least nine abbots and senior monks involved in the scandal have been disrobed and cast out of the monkhood, police said.

Wirapol Sukphol, a jet-setting monk known for his lavish lifestyle, made international headlines in 2017 when he was charged with sex offences, fraud and money laundering. And in 2022, a temple in the northern province of Phetchabun was left without any monks after all four of its monks were arrested in a drug raid and were disrobed.

The case of Wirapol Sukphol, the infamous “jet-set monk” who was sentenced to over 100 years in prison for fraud, money laundering, and sexual offenses, highlighted how modern materialism could corrupt even those who had taken vows of simplicity and poverty.