Colourful ex-monk Kato returns loan
NAKHON SI THAMMARAT: A former abbot who left the monkhood over a sex scandal after borrowing 600,000 baht from the temple has returned the money, amid reports he used it to pay off the woman and a news reporter to keep his affair a secret.
However, police insisted the return of the money has not cleared Pongsakorn Chankaeo — the 23-year-old Phra Kato and former acting abbot of Wat Pen Yat in Chawang district — of potential criminal wrongdoing.
Police are still probing whether he abused his power as acting abbot by borrowing the money and allegedly using it as a pay- off, said Pol Maj Gen Charoonkiat Pankaew, commander of the Anti-Corruption Police Division.
Mr Pongsakorn returned the money to his former temple at Wat Mangkhalaram in Phiphun district on Wednesday evening.
Phra Khru Atthatham Kowit, ecclesiastical chief of Chawang district, witnessed the handover. Wasanti Jongruay, a director of Wat Pen Yat, confirmed the former acting abbot had borrowed the money, but he did not know what he had planned to do with it.
Mr Pongsakorn left the monkhood last Saturday following the leaking of an audio clip about a secret sexual relationship between a woman and a monk. The leak led to reports that the monk had sex on several occasions with the woman in a car on the crest of Kathoon dam in Phipun district. The spot has since become a local attraction.
During a phone-in interview with a TV programme host, Mr Pongsakorn admitted to his misconduct over the past three months. He also admitted giving about 300,000 baht to a 37-year-old woman named “Ms Tong” to end their relationship, after she made repeated demands for money. There were also reports that he paid another 300,000 baht to a reporter to keep quiet about the affair.
Mr Pongsakorn entered the monkhood in 2017 and had many followers, attracted by his entertaining way of teaching Buddhism over social media.
Pol Maj Gen Charoonkiat said police will also consider if Ms Tong’s demands for money amount to extortion.