Several more Buddhist monks were defrocked after testing positive for narcotics during surprise drug tests in Thailand.

Five of six clergymen were found to have taken methamphetamine at the Wat Ban Tan temple in Phichit on July 25.

Police raided the area as part of an intensive sweep of suspected drug hubs in villages across the province.

Phichit governor Thaniya Naiphinit said: 'Urine tests on 13 monks came back positive for drugs. All of them admitted to drug use. When we searched their quarters, we discovered meth paraphernalia and a homemade airsoft gun. The monks were immediately disrobed and brought to Pho Thale Police Station for legal action.'

Just four days earlier, six other Buddhist monks were disrobed after failing drug tests at the Wat Prathom temple, also in Phichit.

Public trust in the country's Buddhist order has eroded after a string of high-ranking monks were caught in a femme fatale seduction scandal this month.

The religious leaders allegedly funneled temple funds to a woman named Wirawan Emsawat, also known as Sika Golf, 35, who allegedly seduced them to gain access to the money, which she reportedly used for her gambling habit.

She was said to have stolen a staggering 385 million baht (8.9 million GBP) from temple coffers before being arrested at her luxury home in Bangkok on July 15.

She faces charges of money laundering, supporting a monk's embezzlement of temple funds, and receiving stolen goods.

The clergy scandal came to light while police were investigating the disappearance of a monk named Arch, who suddenly went missing from the Wat Tri Thotsathep temple in the capital. Authorities suspected he was involved in fraud or love affairs before learning he had a relationship with Wirawan.

A sweep of the woman's house on July 4 found a staggering 80,000 pornographic files stored in five mobile phones showing Wirawan in explicit acts with top-ranking monks and politicians.

Wirawan allegedly admitted she had been coercing or blackmailing the men for money, and had children with some of them.

The Sangha Supreme Council, the highest governing Buddhist body in Thailand, said monastic regulations were being reviewed to create more modern sanctions.

Ittiporn Chan-iam, director of the National Office of Buddhism, added his office was proposing jail terms of up to seven years and a fine of up to 140,000 baht (3,200 GBP) for monks expelled from the order over serious monastic violations.

The same penalties would apply to laypeople who knowingly engage in sexual acts with Buddhist monks.

Buddhist monks take a vow of celibacy to detach themselves from worldly desires, which are seen as obstacles to spiritual enlightenment. However, the Thai clergy have faced numerous sex and corruption scandals over the years, undermining public trust in the religious establishment.