Devotees were outraged after finding dozens of porn discs hidden in a Buddhist monk's bedroom.

Shocked locals uncovered more than 100 lewd DVDs - with photos of topless women printed on the surface - tucked away in shelves in 73-year-old Phra Kru Rangsee Sunthorn's monastic dorm at the Wat Ban Kluay temple in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand.

Residents are now calling for him to be defrocked, saying the collection was proof he had been deceiving them into thinking he was a bastion of purity - all the while amassing pornographic material for a long time before it was found on May 23.

Local council chief Sophon Pariyatwithana said a committee has now been set up to probe the disgraced monk.

He said: 'He is an elderly monk but his behavior could be causing harm to the image of the religion. We do not want to punish him severely, but he must stop doing these immoral things.'

Officials said the monk had been expelled from the temple in February for misspending the temple's budget, watching pornography, and having sexual relations with a young female devotee.

Amid public furor over a video allegedly showing Rangsee half-naked and entering a washroom with a woman, he had resigned from his post and left to stay at a relative's house.

Monk Rangsee explained that he had entered the washroom merely to instruct the woman to unclog a drain. He had been half-naked allegedly because of an abscess on his bottom.

The investigation committee also said that Rangsee was not watching porn, but educational videos on the history of Buddha.

They said that the money spent on painting the temple, including worker wages and material costs, had been duly recorded and the information was conveyed through a letter on March 31.

Despite the previous misdemeanors, the pervert monk had continued living at the temple.

However, when the locals went to clean Rangsee's room they uncovered his secret stash of adult videos.

In light of the new evidence, residents are now urging Buddhism officials to punish Rangsee and review his penalties, having lost confidence in local authorities for allegedly protecting him.