Ven. Nehn Kham was once a hugely popular monk preaching in Thailand's poor northeast region of Isaan. Today, he is an international fugitive with a $32 million fortune that he amassed through fraud.
Buddhists around the world were shocked when footage emerged of this monk looking like a playboy gangster on a private plane, in expensive sunglasses, clutching a Louis Vuitton bag, and fidgeting with high-end gadgets.
His vile extravagance put him atop a long list of misbehaving monks making headlines in devoutly Buddhist Thailand for sex, stealing ["defeat" offenses], fist fights, smuggling drugs, selling guns, hiding pornography, and more.
In response, Thailand's military junta [its new police state apparatus] has set up a 24-hour hotline for the public to report rule-violating monks. [Monks voluntarily take on 227 disciplinary rules called the vinaya, and temporary novices observe 10 of these rules.]
But the junta is also proposing new laws to criminalize breaking any monastic Buddhist rule -- a move some fear is an over reaction that would threaten religious freedom.
101 East exclusively reveals where Thailand's infamous jet-setting monk has been hiding (San Diego, California) and meets those on a mission to save the country's morality.
As scandals involving misbehaving Buddhist monks rock the nation, 101 East examines if Thailand can save its "moral soul."
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