Former Chiang Mai abbot Phra Teeradech: arrest warrant in network abusing boys at northern-Thailand temples
Record class
Context only
Evidence status
Charged
Authority role
abbot, Wat San Pa Sak, Chiang Mai
Organization
Wat San Pa Sak
Spiritual nexus
The accused held the office of Buddhist abbot at Wat San Pa Sak and is alleged to have used that clerical authority, together with a network of fellow abbots, to recruit and abuse boys at the temple.
- Pastoral or clerical authority
- Institutional obedience or isolation
Evidence structure
Proceedings
2016-10-05 · arrest warrant issued
Chiang Mai Provincial Court, Thailand. Chiang Mai Provincial Court issued an arrest warrant for Phra Kru Silathada Theeradej Kachornsuk (also referenced as Phra Teeradech), then aged about 50, former abbot of Wat San Pa Sak, on charges of committing indecent acts against children under 15. He was named as part of a network of abbots at well-known northern-Thailand temples accused of luring boys with money then sexually exploiting them; eight victims, around age 14, had filed complaints with a child-protection center in November 2013 describing abuse occurring in mid-2013.
Documented coercion mechanisms
- monastic/clerical authority over boys at the temple
- network recruitment using promises of money and support
Primary record
Sources
- national press arrest report Khaosod, 'จับคากุฏิ! อดีตเจ้าอาวาสวัดดังเชียงใหม่ ร่วมขบวนการพระ ลวงตุ๋ย 8 เด็กชาย' (Chiang Mai abbot-network abuse arrest report).
Thai-language report detailing the network of abbots, the eight boy victims, and the arrest of the former Wat San Pa Sak abbot.
- national press arrest report Matichon, 'ฉาวอีก! จับสึกเจ้าอาวาส วัดดังเชียงใหม่ ล่วงละเมิดเด็กไทใหญ่-สามเณร คากุฏิ นานหลายปี' (related Chiang Mai temple abuse coverage).
Additional Thai-language coverage of Chiang Mai temple sexual-abuse network arrests context.
Related record
Related cases · Buddhist institutions and contexts
- 2018 · Si Sa Ket, Thailand Wirapol Sukphol (ex-monk): 16 years, rape of a 13-year-old
- 2019 · Halifax, Canada Shambhala-commissioned investigation finds two sexual-misconduct allegations against Sakyong Mipham credible
- 2018 · London, UK Rigpa-commissioned investigation upholds serious allegations against Sogyal Rinpoche
- 2016 · Pattharkot, Sarlahi District, Nepal Ram Bahadur Bomjon: Supreme Court appeal pending after High Court acquittal
- 1997 · Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, India Dharamsala triple murder: two Dorje Shugden-associated suspects charged but never tried
- 2020 · Brussels and Liège, Belgium Robert Spatz: final five-year suspended sentence for abuse and exploitation within OKC
- 2026 · Uduwila, Elpitiya, Sri Lanka Uduwila Sujatha: Court of Appeal affirms ten-year sentence for abuse of a child preparing for ordination
- 2016 · Siem Reap, Cambodia Vong Chet: former pagoda chief sentenced for sexual abuse of novice monks in residential care