A cannibal Buddhist monk has been arrested on suspicion of killing dozens of stray cats and eating them.

Alleged cat fiend Porndanai Ketkaew or Phra Kim, 23, reportedly used Facebook to find people giving away their beloved moggies because they could not afford to keep them.

He then allegedly adopted the feline victims before subjecting them to various forms of torture in his room at the Wat Trai Saranakhom temple in Chachoengsao province, Thailand.

Police arrested Phra Kim on May 17 after receiving reports from the Watchdog Thailand Foundation that around 12 charred cat carcasses, seen in the video being collected as evidence, were uncovered in the ground behind his room.

Police inspected the monk's quarters and found several cat beds, cages, bags of cat food, bloody robes, bloody needles and sticks, and bloodstained floorboards.

They also rescued two recently adopted kittens that the monk had been preparing to eat.

Watchdog Thailand Foundation officer Rattiya Tiaotrakul, 36, said: 'We found the corpses after digging in the yard near the monk's room. We will continue digging as we believe around 60 to 70 more cats are still buried.

'The suspect used Facebook pretending to find a home for the cats. At first, he had a preference for orange cats, but he became more indiscriminate later on.'

Posing as a kind animal lover, the monk had allegedly recently contacted a woman named Pannipa Kongrod to adopt four of her cats that she was struggling with. She took the litter to the temple, pleased they were going to a good home, but was shocked when monks stopped her from entering, warning that Phra Kim was a cruel sadist.

Pannipa said the monk had been adopting cats since he was ordained two years ago, but the pets mysteriously kept disappearing.

Wildlife officials who were monitoring the monk also submitted to police a horrifying clip, which appeared to show Phra Kim eating the ears of a dead kitten. Meows could be heard in the background from other cats awaiting the twisted monk's dinner plate.

Distraught cat donor Porntarat Sukma, 59, said she had recently given five cats to Phra Kim, requiring him to take photos so she could monitor them.

She said the monk did not keep his promise, claiming he had already given away three of the five felines. Still, he refused to take pictures of the remaining two kittens.

Porntarat said: 'All he had to do was take photos and send them to me, so I was suspicious why he refused to do so. I was shocked and saddened when I learned on the news what he had been doing to the cats.'

The monks at the temple were questioned and claimed to have seen Phra Kim wrapping kittens in saffron robes and bashing them to death against the floor. Disturbingly, they claimed he would then mutilate the corpses using a tattoo needle before burning and burying them next to his room.

However, they did not report him to police as they believed he 'could be reformed'.

Temple abbott Phra Kru Pitaktham Sophon, 64, said: 'It's hard to believe that someone who was ordained at this temple would engage in animal cruelty.

'I personally taught Phra Porndanai about the importance of doing good deeds and avoiding sinful acts, particularly the act of killing animals, which is strictly prohibited for monks.

'I prayed and told him many times to stop eating cats. I thought we could change him.'

Phra Kim allegedly told police that he did not intentionally kill the cats, bizarrely claiming that he was playing with them when they 'died of shock.'

He said: 'I didn't know what to do with the dead bodies, so I placed them next to the rubbish pile. They caught on fire when I was burning the garbage.'

Police Lieutenant Colonel Jongdet Sritawan, investigator at the Bang Pakong Police Station, said the monk has been remanded in custody.

He said: 'The monk has been defrocked and charged with animal cruelty. Police will be opposing his bail.'