Thai school director denies sexually assaulting 27 girls in Lopburi

A Wat Phongam School director in the central province of Lopburi denied sexually assaulting 27 schoolgirls and accused a dance teacher of fabricating the story due to an ongoing conflict.

The schoolgirls and their parents filed a complaint against the director of Wat Phongam School, Nitisak, accusing him of sexually assaulting the girls. Nitisak reportedly spoke inappropriately to the girls, asked to visit their homes, and entered a changing room while they were getting undressed for a school performance.

The complaint led to the school director being transferred to work at the Provincial Education Office while the case was under investigation.

Nitisak later defended himself during an interview with Channel 3. He insisted that the allegations of sexual assault were untrue. He claimed he had never sexually assaulted any students in his life. He became a teacher in 1987 and has never faced any complaints in his career. He hoped he would receive justice in this case.

According to him, the story was fabricated due to a conflict with a dance teacher named Tongta. Nitisak claimed that he once complained about Tongta, making her angry at him. However, the school director did not reveal the details of the conflict.

Nitisak explained that all of the schoolgirls who lodged complaints against him were members of Tongta’s dance club. He filed a complaint against Tongta at Tha Luang Police Station and wants her to be removed from her position during the investigation as well.

The Permanent Secretary of the Office of the Basic Education Commission, Thanu Wongjinda, told Channel 3 that Nitisak had to report to him until the investigation into the case was finished. If found guilty, the maximum penalty would be dismissal.

Thanu underscored that the education minister is deeply concerned about the issue of sexual assault in schools, particularly following the recent incident involving a music teacher at Patumkongka School in Bangkok, which has cast a shadow over the positive reputation of 30,000 state schools in Thailand.

The case remains under investigation.

ORIGINAL STORY: 27 young Thai girls sexually assaulted by school director in Lopburi

The Thai parents and guardians of 27 girls accompanied them to file a complaint against the director of Wat Phongam School in the central province of Lopburi for allegedly sexually assaulting them.

The victims and their parents and guardians visited Chai Badan Police Station to take legal action against the school director, whose identity has not been revealed. The issue gained more public attention after the Facebook page Esor News 3 shared it yesterday, July 10.

One of the victims’ parents, Sano, told Matichon that the sexual assault had been ongoing for a long time. She learned about the assaults after her daughter repeatedly refused to go to school. When she asked her daughter why she did not want to attend school, the girl eventually revealed the assaults.

According to the girl, the assaults occurred in various ways, mostly after school and when she was changing clothes for performances at the school.

The victims’ parents demanded that the Provincial Education Office remove the suspected school director from his position and conduct a thorough investigation into his inappropriate behaviour.

The Chai Badan district chief, Panupong Siri, later met with the victims’ parents at the police station. He participated in the questioning of each parent, and the police invited officers from the shelter for children and families to question each young schoolgirl.

Following the questioning, the Provincial Education Office temporarily removed the school director from his position and transferred him to work at another office during an investigation into the case.

Esor News 3 reported that the victims and their parents were also threatened by the school staff not to take legal action against the director. However, the police have not confirmed these threats.

A similar story was reported in January when schoolgirls exposed the perverted behaviour of a deputy director of a school in the northern province of Tak. He sent inappropriate messages to the schoolgirls and lured them into meeting him at his home before sexually assaulting them.