Phra Wachirayan Wi had spent years dressed in orange and talking about renunciation.
He was 66 years old and the abbot of Wat Phutthaisawan, a temple in Ayutthaya that has stood since the XIV century. Security cameras at his own residence recorded him with Punyavee Rungrueang, 47, his lover of two years, according to his own confession to police.
When investigators entered to search the premises, they found more than a secret romance: they discovered gold, jewelry, land deeds, and bundles of cash totaling 215 million baht, around 5 million dollars. It had allegedly all come from the temple’s funds, according to the anonymous complaint that launched this investigation in July. Today, Wachirayan is no longer a monk or abbot: he was stripped of his robes and detained under his civil name, Atichot Thanprasert, along with his partner, without the right to bail.
