Parents take failed China study trip case to CSD

Obec denies involvement in programme as number of affected students rises to 62

Parents and teachers have asked the Crime Suppression Division (CSD) to investigate an alleged scheme in which people claiming links to the Office of the Basic Education Commission (Obec) collected money for a study trip to China that never took place.

Representatives of at least 10 students' families submitted evidence to the CSD on Sunday, when the number of affected students was reported to have risen to 62 from 11 schools, along with eight teachers.

The group had been due to travel to China from Oct 15-26 but found on the day of departure that no airline bookings had been made for them.

The participants paid about 39,900 baht each for the programme, with total losses estimated at 2.7 million baht.

According to the parents, people involved in organising the programme claimed to be Obec officials and acted as coordinators between schools and a tour company. The alleged links to the education agency helped convince schools and parents that the programme was legitimate.

One parent said the programme was presented as a short-term study course and educational trip to Xi’an under an international youth cooperation initiative known as LORD OBEC.

Shortly before departure, the destination was changed from Xi’an to Beijing. The group was told to assemble at Suvarnabhumi airport on Oct 15, but when students, teachers and parents arrived they could not find the organisers or contact them.

They subsequently discovered that there were no airline tickets and the students’ names were not in the airline reservation system. An initial complaint was filed with police at Suvarnabhumi airport.

On Sunday, the parents and teachers brought payment records and other evidence to the CSD and asked investigators to examine the roles of people identified to them as “Dr Poon” and “Khun Tum”.

A teacher representing the group said teachers who had encouraged parents to join the programme were also willing to be investigated. The teacher said none of them had knowingly participated in the alleged scheme or received any benefit, and that all money transferred through teachers’ accounts had been passed on to the organisers.

Parents said payments had been made through school accounts and provided transaction records to police in the hope that investigators could trace where the money went and identify everyone involved in receiving or transferring it.

They also raised concerns about students’ personal information and documents that had been handed to the organisers, fearing the data could be misused for identity fraud or other crimes.

Obec secretary-general Thanu Khwandech said the programme was not organised by Obec and was undertaken privately. The agency is setting up a fact-finding panel and would pursue disciplinary and criminal action if any of its officials were found to have been involved.

The organisers have reportedly begun refunding 10,000 baht to some schools, but parents said they still wanted those responsible to face legal action.

Education Minister Prasert Chantararuangthong said on Friday that an initial inquiry found the organiser had claimed to have signed a memorandum of understanding with a university in China.