Reverence for the saffron-robed Buddhist monkhood is deeply woven into Thai society, but a sex extortion scandal has besmirched the clergy and left the devout questioning their faith.The scandal provoked outrage over hypocrisy in the monkhood,

A woman in Thailand has been arrested for allegedly blackmailing senior Buddhist monks using covertly filmed sex tapes, in what authorities say is one of the most damaging religious scandals in recent history.

At least nine abbots and senior monks involved in the scandal have been disrobed and cast out of the monkhood, police said.