Asst abbot of Wat Sa Ket faces human trafficking charge

Crime Suppression Division police and forensic officers search living quarters of Phra Phrom Sitthi, then abbot of Wat Sa Ket, to find evidence about the temple fund embezzlement in May. The abbot and three other monks were later defrocked. (Bangkok Post file photo)

A former assistant abbot of Wat Sa Ket will face a human trafficking charge if a young man he allegedly had a sexual relationship with is found to have been less than 18 years of age.

Police from the the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division and the Crime Suppression Division have widened the search for the young man seen in pornographic photos and video clips found on the former monk’s mobile phone during a raid on his living quarters on May 24, Pol Maj Gen Kornchai Klayklueng said on Tuesday.

Phra Wisuthsasnawites, when still assistant abbot of Wat Sa Ket. (Photo from Kong-ngan Wisuthsasnawites Facebook page)

Phra Wisuthsasnawites, the assistant abbot of Wat Sa Ket (Golden Mount) in Bangkok’s Pomprap Sattruphai district, was summonsed to the CSD on Monday for interrogation. After questioning, he left the monkhood.

Pol Maj Gen Maitree Chimcherd, chief of the CSD, said then that Phra Wisuthsasnawites had decided to leave the clergy because his behaviour was inappropriate. He was released as a layman. His name is Kaweesil Wisuthikulo, aged 37 years.

Po Maj Gen Kornchai said the young man in the porn clips would soon be found. He would be questioned about how he became involved in a sexual relationship with the former monk.

If he was found to have been younger than 18 years at the time the former Phra Wisuthsasnawites would face a human trafficking charge. He did not release any other details.

The former assistant abbot, who was also known as “Chaokhun Ping’’, served as a personal secretary to Phra Phrom Sitthi, the former abbot of Wat Sa Ket who was arrested on charges of temple fund embezzlement.

Wat Sa Ket is one of three temples in Bangkok embroiled in an embezzlement scandal that has drawn worldwide attention.