Pattani spiritual medium accused of sexually assaulting nearly 30 boys
Suspect uses meditation training to groom victims and manipulates them with gifts
Teenage boys filed a complaint against a male spiritual medium in the southern province of Pattani for sexually assaulting them. The number of victims is believed to have reached 30 people.
The non-profit organisation, Be One, accompanied 13 teenage boys and their families to the Mueang Pattani Police Station to file a complaint against the medium, 25 year old Chondanai.
Chondanai is reported to be a spiritual medium at a shrine in the province and was respected by people in the area. He organised several events and festivals and invited young boys to attend and help him with the organisation of each event.
Chondanai reportedly tricked victims into a meditation training session to get close to them and gain their trust. He would then make video calls to them more and more often, and later tricked them into showing their private parts.
The spiritual medium also invited some victims to travel to other provinces with him and bought them gifts before sexually assaulting them. The victims were aged between 12 and 15 years old.
The sexual abuse came to light after the mother of one of the victims stepped forward to seek justice for her son. The mother noticed that her son had changed and looked distressed, which led her to question him until he revealed the assault.
Another woman revealed to ThaiRath that her nephew attended a meditation training camp and was raped in the suspect’s accommodation.
The assistant to the Be One Foundation’s founder, Naphatkamon Sangkaew, told ThaiRath that the victims in this case might reach 30 people. Some of the parents still did not know that their child was one of the victims, and all of the parents were in shock as they also respected this spiritual medium.
According to Naphatkamon, the parents were worried that the case would be ignored, so they turned to the foundation for close monitoring of its development.
Naphatkamon also urged the suspect not to call the foundation or the parents of the victims to clear the issue because all of the victims insisted on taking legal action.
The Superintendent of Mueang Pattani Police Station, Jeffrey Sailamankun, reported to the media that officers are now questioning the victims about the matter and will provide protection to the victims and witnesses. Police would gather evidence for the case before seeking an arrest warrant against the spiritual medium.
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