The hidden life of super luxury led by embattled monk Phra Wirapol Sukphol, better known as Luang Pu Nen Kham Chattiko, has been exposed by a pilot who used to find private jet rentals for the holy man.
A message, claimed to be written by Bangkok Aviation Centre founder and CEO Piya Tregalnon, revealing the jet-setting monk's unusual wealth has been shared widely on social networks.
Caught on film: The monk with a wad of US $100 bills (each worth about 3,000 baht), one of the acts that led Wg Cdr Piya Tregalnon to post photos and condemnation of Luang Pu Nen Kham Chattiko on his Facebook page.
Wing Commander Piya Sunday confirmed he posted the message on his Facebook page.
"I have been wondering for three years why the monk has such large amounts of money and assets. He is not even a very famous monk," he said.
"When he came into the spotlight, I decide to speak out as I think his wealth is suspicious."
The Facebook post dates back three years ago, when Wg Cdr Piya was asked to find a seven-seat private jet for the monk to travel back and forth between Bangkok and Ubon Ratchathani.
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The monk always paid in cash — about 300,000 baht for each rental, Wg Cdr Piya said.
The monk also showed interest in buying his own private jet, which can cost 500-700 million baht for a new plane and at least 100 million baht for a second-hand craft.
The monk often travelled in a super luxury Maybach-brand car and boasted that he had a Mercedes-Benz S500, a BMW X6 and a Mini Cooper just for driving inside the temple compound. He also claimed to have a yacht, Wg Cdr Piya said.
The monk also showed bundles of US$100 (3,129 baht) banknotes fully packed in his kitbag and claimed he also had gold bars inside, he said.
He showed two chequebooks of US banks with his name printed on every cheque.
The monk said he could withdraw more than $10 million for each cheque because he had a lot of money deposited in the banks, Wg Cdr Piya said.
He said he distanced himself from Luang Pu Nen Kham after the monk asked him to buy a private jet in the US. The monk also used to ask the pilot to carry his kitbag when he passed immigration checkpoints.
"I am not afraid of being charged at all after revealing this issue. I wrote what I had seen with my own eyes. I do not want to see a person who exploited Buddhists' faith to obtain money to remain at large," the pilot said.
Meanwhile, a former close aide of Phra Wirapol told the Department of Special Investigation Sunday the monk had drunk alcohol, taken illicit drugs and had sex with many teenage girls.
Pol Lt Col Pong-in Intarakhao, chief of the agency's Security Crime Bureau, Sunday led a team of DSI investigators to interrogate witnesses in Si Sa Ket province.
One of the witnesses, who was a former close aide of the monk, told the DSI the monk had brought his luxury cars to be repaired at his garage in Ubon Ratchathani.
The monk also used the garage as a venue for drinking alcohol, viewing porn videos, taking drugs, and having sexual affairs with many young women, Pol Lt Col Pong-in said after interrogating the 56-year-old witness for about one hour.
The monk is under investigation by the DSI for allegedly having intimate relationships with several women, with one of them claiming he had fathered her child.
The Crime Suppression Division (CSD) will ask the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) to investigate the sources of money and assets belonging to the monk.
The division will tomorrow share information regarding the monk's finances with the ONCB secretary-general, deputy CSD chief Prasopchok Prommul said.
Pol Col Prasopchok Sunday led a team of CSD police to search the house of the monk's parents in Ubon Ratchathani's Phibun Mangsahan district.
However, Rath Sukphol and his wife Sudjai, the monk's parents, did not allow the search.
A source said the house was worth about 100 million baht.
The CSD team later went to search the monk's Santitham Baramee monastery, covering 28 rai in the same district. but could not enter as the gate was locked.
Caught on film: Wing Commander Piya Tregalnon (right) posted this photo of himself with Luang Pu Nen Kham Chattiko during a charter flight.