Military school owner gets death sentence for student’s fatal beating

The Nonthaburi teacher, who allegedly beat and mistreated kindergarten students, faces charges of physical assault and violating the Child Protection Act. The charges follow reports of abuse after classroom surveillance camera footage from the Sarasas Witaed Ratchaphruek School spread on the internet. Videos show a teacher, identified as Ornuma “Khru Jum” Plodprong, pushing a child to the ground, dragging another across the room and repeatedly hitting the kindergarten students.

Your comments…

• School administrators must be investigated.

• About time. This kind of abuse is the norm in Thai schools and it’s about time they did something about it.

• How about the other 3 adults who were in that room when it happens . NONE of them went forward to help that poor kid.

• Many expat teachers I came across when my daughter was still at school were ‘illegal’ & while they should accept blame, the schools which charge for expensive expat teaching should be held accountable.

Police say more charges for violating the Teachers Act could follow. They say 8 parents are also planning on pressing separate charges. Following the reports of alleged abuse, the Office of the Private Education Commission, or OPEC, set up a committee to investigate all of the 42 Sarasas private schools around Thailand.

Khru Jum, along with staff who allegedly witnessed the abuse, were fired. OPEC teamed up with the Department of Mental Health to send psychiatrists to the school to evaluate children.

Other video footage from the Sarasas school in Nonthaburi, a suburb in Bangkok, shows a male teacher grabbing a student by the arm. The teacher was identified as a 25 year old Filipino man named Marvin.

The video has sparked an online backlash and immigration officials went to the teacher’s house to check his paperwork and also checked more than 70 other foreign teachers at the school. Immigration officials have now reported that the Filipino teacher is not legal to teach in Thailand, is only on a tourist visa and down’t have a work permit.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post

Police tracked down and arrested a Burmese woman who allegedly left her newborn baby on a bench in Phuket’s Patong area last week. The mother faces charges of abandoning a baby.

The newborn was left in a reusable shopping bag on a bench behind a Krungthai Bank branch. A woman in the area heard the baby crying and found the newborn in the bag along with a bottle of milk, diapers and clothing. Police reviewed surveillance camera footage shows a woman, police later identified as Ei Ei Phyu, leaving the bag on the bench.

Police say the woman gave birth on September 9 at a local hospital in Surat Thani’s Phun Phin district. Ei Ei allegedly took a van from Surat Thani to Phuket on September 22 and stayed with a friend in Patong. The early the next morning, she allegedly left her baby on the bench before boarding a bus back to Surat Thani.

Burmese workers in the Patong area told police Ei Ei used to work at a local Indian food restaurant before she moved to Surat Thani to work as a rubber tapper. Ei Ei allegedly told police she is not in the position to raise a child.

In earlier reports, police said the baby is healthy and does not appear to have any injuries.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post

A foreign English teacher at a Sarasas private school in Nonthaburi was allegedly caught working without a proper visa and work permit after an immigration check. An investigation into all 42 Sarasas schools was prompted after a Thai teacher at the Sarasas Witaed Ratchapreauk School in Nonthaburi was allegedly caught on camera beating kindergarten students.

A Filipino English teacher at the school, who also allegedly mistreated a student, reportedly worked at the school on a tourist visa and didn’t have a work permit. Classroom surveillance camera footage shows a teacher, who Thai media identifies as “Teacher Marvin,” grabbing a student by the arm. The 25 year old Filipino teacher says he did not abuse the student and was just trying to get the student to the restroom because the student had a runny nose.

After the video was released of the Filipino teacher allegedly mistreating a student, immigration officials went to the school as well as the teacher’s home to check his paperwork. The Filipino teacher was not home or at school, but later reported to immigration.

The investigation and review of classroom surveillance camera footage started after videos of a Thai teacher at the school, identified as Ornuma “Khru Jum” Plodprong, were shared online. The videos show a teacher pushing a 3 year old student to the ground and pulling another across the classroom. Khru Jum, along with teachers who allegedly witnessed the abuse, were reportedly fired.

Reports from Thai media say immigration checked all 74 foreign teachers at the Nonthaburi school, but the Filipino teacher was the only teacher at the school found to be working illegally. The teacher was not “officially” hired by the school, but started working at the school in July on a monthly salary of 20,000 baht, according to the school.

The Office of the Private Education Commission, or OPEC, set up a committee to investigate the 42 Sarasas schools. The Immigration Bureau has not announced if they will do checks at the schools, but OPEC secretary general Attapon Truektrong has asked the Sarasas schools to make sure teachers have a license issued by the Teachers’ Council of Thailand. The commission is also making sure the schools are abiding by other rules such as maximum class size.

SOURCE: Thai Visa

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