Thai authorities have launched an investigation into a Facebook group for gay men who have fantasies about having sex with Buddhist monks and novices and for men who have a fetish for dressing up as monks.

Thailand has laws criminalizing insults against religion and the group was reported to the authorities by nationalist group Network Against Acts that Destroy the Nation, Religion and the Royal Institution.

According to the group’s leader Songkran Atchariyasap the page is a forum and meeting place for gay men with monk fetishes and contains a pornographic video which appears to show a monk having sex with a novice.

The Thai Police Crime Suppression Division opened an investigation based on Atchariyasap’s complaint after he showed them the pornographic video.

Atchariyasap claims to have tracked down the identity of the men in the video and believes the man dressed as a monk lives in Northern Thailand and that the man who dressed as a novice lives in Bangkok.

Around 800 people have joined the group according to Atchariyasap’s investigations and he fears that if nothing is done it could cause serious damage to the reputation of Buddhist monks in Thailand.

Although Thailand has a reputation for being an LGBTI friendly travel destination, gay and transgender people are still seen as a disappointment by many Thai parents who will sometimes pressure them to become monks against their will rather than live openly as who they are.

In May of 2013 it was considered a scandal when a series of photos of young monks who had arranged their robes like women’s dresses went viral on social media.