The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) has launched a nationwide crackdown on 95 rogue monks. It is singling out those who indulge in sex, scams, transvestism and politics.

CIB commissioner Lt Gen Thitiraj Nhongharnpitak said the Crime Suppression Division (CSD) is leading the drive which aims to keep the monastic community free of scandals.

There is concern over damage to the image of monks and Buddhism as a whole in the light of several recent scandals.

Pol Lt Gen Thitiraj said the CSD has compiled a list of 95 monks who are suspected of breaking the monastic code. If they are found to have violated the code, they will be asked to leave the monkhood. Some will be prosecuted if their alleged misconduct is found to have broken the law.

A source in the CIB said the agency has divided the 95 wayward monks into four categories: indulging in sexual activities (35); claiming to have supernatural powers (24); engaging in political activism (11); and practising transvestism (25).

According to the source, the CSD crackdown will go on for about two weeks.

The news of the CIB's operation came after the high-profile arrest of a senior monk in Phetchabun last week for alleged child indecency.

He is also among four monks and 10 laymen implicated in the temple fund embezzlement being investigated by the police's Counter-Corruption Division.

The Sangha Supreme Council has issued an order instructing senior monks to toughen the screening process for men wishing to enter the monkhood.