Siblings face prison time for extortion, coercion of former monk

The Southern Bangkok Criminal Court today sentenced a woman and her brother for their involvement in extortion, and coercion of a well-known monk, squeezing over 300,000 baht out of him. The siblings expressed remorse but still faced a prison sentence.

The legal proceedings stemmed from incidents occurring between April 5 and April 21 last year. During this period, Weerinchita allegedly coerced the well-known preacher, Phongsakorn into giving her 180,600 baht in cash.

She threatened to release intimate conversations and photos to the public, which would tarnish his reputation and force him to leave the monkhood.

The charges further included that Satit, her brother, leveraged this sensitive information to extract an additional 300,000 baht. He promised to ensure Weerinchita would remain silent and not share any information with the media, thus safeguarding Phongsakorn’s reputation. The incidents occurred in Nakhon Si Thammarat and Pathum Thani.

The prosecution argued that the defendants should be held accountable for the extortion and demanded they return the 300,000 baht to the victim. Initially, both Weerinchita and Satit denied the accusations.

However, they later admitted guilt, leading to a settlement where they agreed to compensate Phongsakorn with 30,000 baht—20,000 baht from Weerinchita and 10,000 baht from Satit. Satisfied with this arrangement, Phongsakorn chose not to pursue further legal action.

Weerinchita stated that past misunderstandings had been resolved, assuring that both parties were now on amicable terms.

On the day of the verdict, Weerinchita and Satit appeared in court as scheduled. The court found Weerinchita guilty on multiple counts. For extortion, she received a two-year prison sentence and a 20,000 baht fine, and for the additional charge of coercion, a three-year sentence and a 40,000 baht fine.

Satit was sentenced to two years in prison and fined 20,000 baht for his role in the coercion. Given their cooperation and the victim’s willingness for reconciliation, their sentences were reduced by half.

Consequently, Weerinchita’s final sentence was two years and six months with a 30,000 baht fine, while Satit was sentenced to one year and fined 10,000 baht.

The court’s investigation revealed that neither defendant had prior criminal records and had shown genuine remorse. Considering these factors and their efforts to compensate the victim, the court decided to suspend their sentences for two years.

Both are required to report to probation officers four times within a year and complete 24 hours of community service, reported KhaoSod.