Monkeying around: Fake Thai spiritual medium swindles 50 million baht from believers in Chinese Monkey King con

A Thai woman claiming to be the spiritual medium of the traditional Chinese Monkey King, also known as Sun Wukong, swindled 50 million baht from victims.

Ten victims, who had donated about 50 million baht to the spiritual medium eight years ago, sought assistance from renowned Thai lawyer Ronnarong Kaewphet. They had given the money with the understanding that it would be used to construct a shrine in honour of the revered Monkey King. However, the promised shrine never materialized.

One of the victims, 41 year old Ratisak Rattanathai, revealed to the lawyer and Channel 3 that he and other victims prayed to the Monkey King through the woman, who claimed to be a medium. The medium even gained recognition by appearing on a television show, subsequently amassing more followers.

The medium had raised funds to build a three-storey Monkey King shrine on Soi Suwinthawong 47 in the Nong Chok district of Bangkok. The project required a substantial budget, and the woman conducted numerous ceremonies to raise funds. The victims willingly donated, as they believed in the Monkey King.

Ratisak became suspicious of the medium’s fraudulent actions because she did not follow the Monkey King’s orders. Ratisak said the spirit of the Monkey King had spoken through the medium, instructing all followers to open three bank accounts to safeguard the funds for the shrine. However, the medium insisted that the money be transferred to her personal account.

Ratisak further revealed that the medium never provided updates on the amount of donations and failed to initiate the construction of the shrine. When he began questioning the project, the medium expelled him from the group and accused him of being a bad person

Lawyer Ronnarong told Channel 3 that he would accompany the victims to file a complaint against the spiritual medium with the cyber police. He also mentioned that all the victims would be willing to drop the case if the medium could offer a transparent account of the donations and fulfill her commitment to erect the shrine.

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