‘Jet-set monk’ is back in Thailand after extradition from US

He was arrested in California last year.

Wirapol returned to Bangkok late Wednesday under an extradition agreement with the United States. According to Paisit Wongmuang, director-general of Thailand’s Department of Special Investigation, Wirapol “wanted to come back to Thailand and was ready to enter the justice system.”

Critics say Wirapol is an extreme example of a wider crisis in Thai Buddhism, which has become marginalized by a shortage of monks and an increasingly secular society.

Born in the poor northeastern province of Ubon Ratchathani, Wirapol entered the monkhood as a teenager and gained local renown for claims of supernatural powers. Gradually, he cultivated wealthy followers to help fund expensive projects in the name of Buddhism, including erecting an 18-meter (59-foot) -high Buddha statue.

Thailand’s Anti-Money Laundering Office has discovered 41 bank accounts linked to Wirapol. Several of the accounts kept about 200 million baht ($5.9 million) in constant circulation, raising suspicion of money laundering, the office said.

According to the Department of Special Investigation, Wirapol at one point had accumulated assets of an estimated 1 billion baht ($32 million). During a shopping spree from 2009 to 2011, Wirapol bought 22 Mercedes cars worth 95 million baht ($2.8 million), the department said.

Kankanit Wiriyasajja, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

‘Jet-set monk’ is back in Thailand after extradition from US

Our Community