'Jet-set' Thai Buddhist monk being hunted over sex charges

Thai authorities have issued an arrest warrant against a 34-year old Buddhist monk accused of rape, having sex with minors and drug trafficking.

The so-called 'jet-set monk', Luang Pu Nenkham, has claimed to be the reincarnation of a respected monk who lived several decades ago.

He has been accused of ignoring his Buddhist vows of celibacy and a simple, moral living.

Thailand's Department of Special Investigation (DSI), a division of the Ministry of Justice, said it believes a video, posted on YouTube, showing Nenkham of having sex, was shot by one of the monks on the plane, passed around and then posted anonymously.

Nenkham, now stripped of his religious leadership, owned at least 83 automobiles and a list of properties that include plots of land, houses and condominiums, the DSI said.

According to the report, authorities also estimate at least 300 million baht, or nearly 10 million dollars, have disappeared from Nenkham's bank accounts in recent days.

Donations over the past decade, from poor supporters as well as rich backers, had helped Nenkham amass his total wealth.

Nenkham is facing charges of violating Thailand's computer crime act by posting 'deceitful information', having sex with a minor and rape.

The DSI said as per intelligence sources Nenkham is now believed to be in the United States and in California.