When a Buddhist Monk Falls in Love
HOW BIG IS THE THAILAND TEMPLE SCANDAL?
A total of 87.99 million baht (RM10.8 million) in temple donation money and 35 Buddha amulets made of pure gold—all flowing from a Thai royal temple to a luxury mansion belonging to a former beauty queen and campus cheerleader.
When Buddhist devotees visit temples and put money into donation boxes, do they ever wonder whose hands the money ultimately ends up in?
This major scandal that shook the Thai Buddhist community involves several shocking revelations that even a prime-time drama series writer probably wouldn't dare to invent.
This event took place at Wat Phutthasawan, a famous royal temple in the Ayutthaya province. Encik Ajarn Choke, a 66-year-old former chief monk, was supposed to be a highly respected monk—someone considered to be of high moral character, spending his days chanting and spreading the Dharma teachings. However, the reality is said to be far different.
Behind the scenes, he was alleged to have orchestrated a massive misappropriation of temple funds and embezzled a total of 92 million baht (RM11.32 million). Where did the money go?
Here is where the main female character of this story emerges: a 47-year-old believer named Panyavee, known in her social circles as Sister Ai.
Her life story is quite extraordinary. 30 years ago, while studying at one of Thailand's leading universities, she was a campus celebrity—a beautiful girl who was a cheerleader and admired for her beautiful looks and physique. A few years after leaving the university, Sister Ai became a single mother.
To earn a living, she started a business selling ritual items for blessings, fulfilling vows, and warding off bad luck. It was through this business that she first came into contact with the influential Ajarn Choke.
The transformation from a campus beauty queen to a single mother sounds like an inspiring story of life's struggles. However, the path that Sister Ai chose next was completely unexpected.
Not only was she rumored to be the high-ranking monk's intimate companion, but she was also deeply involved in the temple's financial affairs and asset transfers, ultimately becoming a wealthy socialite with an immense amount of fortune.
When Thai police raided the mansion of Sister Ai in the Khlong Luang district of Pathum Thani based on a search warrant, the seized assets left the investigators themselves in shock. Police seized 35 pure gold Buddha amulets, gold bars, and jewelry weighing approximately 1.4 kilograms, as well as 3.59 million baht (RM442,000) in cash at the scene.
That wasn't all. A large number of bank account books, land titles, investment documents, and insurance policies were also found at the house. So far, police have seized more than 2,000 items related to the case—including about 60 million baht (RM7.4 million) in cash, alongside various high-value assets and diamond jewelry—bringing the total value of the seized goods to over 80 million baht (RM9.86 million).
After the scandal broke out, 66-year-old Ajarn Choke was detained and interrogated through the night. The former abbot was forced to remove his saffron monk's robes and change into a white shirt and trousers before being sent to a detention center.
Due to the cramped and overcrowded conditions of the prison, the elderly man reportedly spent the entire night in exhaustion, sitting cross-legged in meditation and unable to sleep at all.
Initially, Ajarn Choke vehemently denied the allegations of breach of trust and money laundering, refusing to admit any wrongdoing. However, the investigative team calmly played the closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage recorded inside the temple's meditation room.
Confronted with irrefutable video evidence of an intimate physical relationship with a woman, Ajarn Choke was finally silenced. He then bowed his head and confessed that they had been engaged in an illicit sexual relationship for two years inside the sacred meditation room.
In public, he taught people to detach themselves from worldly desires. However, in private, he was alleged to be busy accumulating wealth and practicing what was described as 'dual cultivation' inside the meditation room.
Wasting the hard-earned money of devotees to support a 'campus belle' who used to be a cheerleader—what kind of Buddhist teaching is that?
Prosecutors and police have now charged both of them with several serious offenses, including misappropriation of public assets by a public servant, corruption in the line of duty, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
This story shows that true stories happening abroad are sometimes more dramatic than what can be imagined in TV dramas.
Nowadays, religious believers truly need to be much more careful. Otherwise, the donation money you painstakingly gather bit by bit to contribute might end up turning into gold bars stored inside someone else's safe.
Excerpted, translated, and adapted from the writings of Perkongsian Ustaz dan Agama (Ustaz and Religious Sharing), via a Facebook post on Monday, 14 September 2026.
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When it involves these two things; du*t dan bu**t, jangankan sami Buddha, Tok Sheikhul Islam pun boleh terpelanting serban wooo....
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