The House panel on religion plans to amend the Buddhism Protection law to include punishment of sexual offences in the wake of transgressions by a former acting abbot in Nakhon Si Thammarat.
Suchat Usaha, chair of the House panel on religion, said the panel with the National Office of Buddhism and the Royal Thai Police Anti-Corruption Division discussed amending the law to permit the punishment of monks and the women they commit sex offences with.
The amendment will include 1-5 years imprisonment and up to a 100,000-baht fine for offenders, said Mr Suchat who is the Palang Pracharath Party MP for Phetchaburi.
Asked if a monk who committed sexual misconduct in the past can return to the monkhood later in life, Mr Suchat said this was currently impractical as the National Office of Buddhism did not have an updated national database on monks. He estimated that there are 250,000 monks, 42,000 temples and 10,000 monasteries so when a monk is forced to leave the monkhood because of sexual misconduct, he could be ordained in another temple in another province.
The move comes after ex-monk Pongsakorn Chankaeo -- known as Phra Kato and a former acting abbot of Wat Pen Yat in Chawang district -- was exposed as having sexual relations with a woman while he was a monk.
Mr Pongsakorn took 600,000 baht in temple money in a bid to end the relationship and to bribe local media.
Mr Pongsakorn, 23, later returned the money.