Detectives probing the shooting of a Thai monk have found he was anything but pious. Yet he is only the latest holy man to be mired in corruption
If the makers of reality television programmes ever decide to do When Good Monks Go Bad, they will have to look no further than Thailand for material. For the kingdom's saffron-wrapped rogues are back in the headlines - this time following the murder of an abbot who turns out to have been more interested in lucre than Buddha.
A web of intrigue surrounds the shooting of Phra Khru Nanthapiwat, abbot of Wat Koo in the northern Bangkok district of Nontaburi, who was gunned down on June 18 at a nearby temple, Wat Klang Bang Sue. He had moved there two months ago after angry villagers, tired of his mafia-like extortion tactics, chased him out of Wat Koo.
Police believe certain 'influential people' were behind the killing. Initially, the prime suspect was the monk's lawyer and adopted son, Kampanat Muannak. Two men arrested for carrying out the actual shooting - Somkiat Kitcharoen, 46, one of a team of thuggish bodyguards who accompanied the monk everywhere he went, and gun-for-hire Prapan Pasuksri, 35 - claim Mr Kampanat paid them 450,000 baht (HK$84,000) to kill the monk. Mr Kampanat has denied any involvement in the killing.
A third man, Somporn Kitcharoen, older brother of Somkiat, has also been arrested for conspiring to carry out the murder.
The plot thickened on Thursday, when investigators said they were pursuing leads involving a dispute over a landfill project at the temple, which might also be related to the murder of the monk's close female associate and reputed lover, Somjai Kijacharoen - who happens to be the sister of one of the alleged gunmen.
