Thai Teacher pleads for compassion as student faces deportation to Cambodia (video)
Childhood spent entirely in Thailand disrupted by strict immigration rules
A Thai teacher has shared his heartbreak after a 13 year old student, who achieved a perfect 4.00 GPA, was detained by police for being an undocumented foreigner, despite growing up entirely in Thailand and being unable to speak his parents’ native language.
Today, 28 August, teacher Sopon Jongboriboon posted a video on Facebook expressing his sadness and frustration after the young student was taken by police and was set to be sent back to Cambodia.
The student, described as talented, well-behaved, and fully integrated into Thai society, was raised in Thailand from infancy. He cannot read or speak Cambodian, yet now faces the trauma of detention and deportation. The arrest has left the teacher, fellow staff, the student, and his mother devastated.
The teacher, speaking on behalf of the child, said he hoped society would show compassion for innocent children caught in such situations. “This student and his mother have been crying constantly at the police station. They don’t know what will happen next. The child has done nothing wrong.”
“This morning, after the flag ceremony, the police came to take my student away. He was charged with being an undocumented foreigner. His mother, a Cambodian national married to a Thai man, brought him here as a baby, and they have never returned to Cambodia. He has lived, studied, and grown up here, speaks Thai, and cannot communicate in Cambodian. He graduated from primary school with a perfect GPA of 4.00 and excels in music, sports, and academics.
Seeing him taken in civilian clothes to be held for deportation breaks my heart. Imagine a 13 year old being torn from his family, friends, and teachers. Please, stop punishing someone so innocent.”
Student deportation
The teacher urged the public to stop online harassment and emphasised that police were following their duties based on complaints, and the school is coordinating to assist the student, reported MGR Online.
Later, the teacher explained that, according to the student’s birth certificate, the child’s father is not Thai. He clarified that the police were acting within the law. Once a report was filed, police were obliged to investigate.
As there was no evidence that the child had entered Thailand legally, the student had to be taken into custody pending deportation to the country of origin.
Further investigation revealed that both of the child’s biological parents are Cambodian, and the child was brought into Thailand unlawfully at a young age. The Thai father is a stepfather, not the biological parent, reported Ch7.
Chamnarn Chuenta, Governor of Surin Province, stated that police are reviewing whether the arrest was carried out in accordance with children’s rights. He confirmed that security officials were acting within the law.
Given the unusual situation along the Thai-Cambodian border, strict scrutiny of behaviour is necessary to prevent espionage. The student and her mother are set to be deported back to Cambodia. However, if the student can regularise his immigration documents, he will be able to return and continue her studies in Thailand, reported Thai PBS.
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