Drug-dealing, sex-buying monk defrocked

PHUKET: A SEX-CRAZED monk in the Northern province of Lamphun has been defrocked and charged by police for allegedly selling ya bah (methamphetamine) to local teenagers.

Phra Phichat In-wan of Wat Rongkutai in the province’s Maeraeng Subdistrict spent much of his drug profits on prostitutes that he had sex with on temple grounds, according to police.

The disgraced clergyman kept the bra and panties of the women as souvenirs, several of which police were shocked to find stashed in his bedroom.

Officers arrested Phra Phichat, 24, after he bought ya bah pills from a man by the side of a country road. The man suspected of selling the monk the drugs escaped and is being hunted by the police.

In Phra Phichat’s possession, police found 90 ya bah pills, two mobile phones and 14,000 baht.

Officers escorted the young monk to his temple, where they carried out a search of his sleeping quarters.

There they discovered a large number of pornographic DVDs and four sets of bras and panties.

They took him to the chief of the Sangha (monks’ association) in Pasang Subdistrict in Lamphun to be defrocked.

They then brought him to Pasang Police Station for questioning and charged him with possession of drugs with intent to sell.

Phra Phichat told officers that he bought the drugs from a 25-year-old man called “Mr Fueang” before selling the pills to local teenagers for 200 baht each.

He said he used the money to shop, go out and, on five occasions, to pay for the services of prostitutes – whom he brought back to his temple quarters for sex.

The monk said that after the encounters were over he always asked for the women’s panties and bra as a souvenir.

— Khao Sod