Army claims widespread embezzlement of state funds at southern schools

By The Nation

 

Fourth Army Region chief Lt Gen Piyawat Nakwanich

 

Fourth Army Region chief Lt Gen Piyawat Nakwanich alleged on Monday evening that officials at six Islamic schools in Pattani were involved in misappropriating up to Bt700 million a year in state subsidies.

 

He said some of the officials were also linked to the violent insurrection in the southern border provinces.

 

Piyawat said only 40 per cent of the Bt1.26 billion allocated to Pattani for education had been used for that purpose, while the rest was embezzled.

 

He said the irregularities had hampered the education of 101,000 of the province’s 165,072 students and affected 4,000 teachers.

 

Piyawat said a January 27 search at Bakong Pittaya School in Nong Chik district turned up documents allegedly about fomenting social discord, as well as cooking gas and fire-extinguisher cylinders that were suspiciously hidden from view.

 

Such cylinders can be used in making bombs.

 

Pattani Special Task Force commander Jatuporn Kalamphasut said officials at the school had misappropriated state funds.

 

As evidence, he said at least three students registered as attending classes there were not. Receipts for textbook procurement were falsified, with school staff “admitting” they’d only bought 20 per cent of the books listed.

 

Teachers were being paid Bt7,000-Bt8,000 a month, far less than the Education Ministry standard of Bt15,000. Administrators claimed the teachers consented to the lower pay so that other teachers who were not legally instated could be hired.

 

The instated teachers were paid a risk contingency allowance of Bt1,000-Bt1,500 per month each, again lower than the ministry rate of Bt2,500, again so the difference could go to non-instated teachers.

 

Receipts for expenditures of state funds were falsified with exaggerated amounts in a conspiracy with business operators who were paid to issue the receipts.

 

Jatuporn said Bakong Pittaya School officials also supported perpetrators of the insurrection. Since 2011, a monthly payment was made to suspected militant Sakariya Hadsmad, who was arrested last November in connection with three 2016 attacks, including a drive-by shooting in Nong Chik that left eight civilians wounded.

 

School funds also came from an education official who was related to suspected insurgents Maolana Samoh and Abdulstopa Sulong, Jatuporn said.

 

Saying the graft could stretch back decades, he said about half of the 200 religious schools in five southern provinces appeared to be involved.

 

A March 29 search at Prasan Wittaya Mulnithi School uncovered Bt1.2 million in cash along with documents that are being scrutinised for evidence of subsidy irregularities.

 

That school’s director, Muhammad Hayeeteh, has insisted that his institution of 3,500 students and 216 teachers had nothing to do with the insurgency.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30342347

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-04-03

 

Horrendous. It's times like this that I believe Sharia is right about how it punishes thievery.

Utterly appalling. I despair at just how widespread and indiscriminate corruption is in Thailand

Seems daily that corruption is unearthed or brought media attention, while Prayut mouths off about fighting corruption from his pedestal. 

Today he meets with the cast of some opera,, talk about Nero fiddling while Rome burns..

Awful. Effectively stealing from kids and jeopardizing their education..

The whole thing with dishonesty, fraud and embezzlement is getting to be so commonplace, that I am starting to think that it would be a serious News story when somewhere is found that isn't actually doing so. I will not be holding my breath for that to happen mind, as I still quite enjoy life.

no turning back now....mabey this shake up is the beginning ,to a new path forward...we can only hope so ...

When you look at mathematics results in schools, they are abysmal but when it comes to rorting the system they are mathematical geniuses............albeit grubs non the less!

Is it any wonder that corruption runs ever more rampant in this country with every day passing when even supposed watchdogs like the PACC merely "propose" that perpetrators ought to - might have to - perhaps should be punished with outrageous measures like "dismissal with pension", for example:

 

 

Meanwhile, our top government figures instead of stamping out corruption in the state apparatus (which they claim was their principal reason for staging a coup d'etat in the first place) rather spend their time mingling with the cast of an IQ-eroding soap opera, writing infantile poems and songs, designing childish "national mascots", throwing banana peels at reporters, amassing luxury watches that are not theirs to own and concocting implausible explanations why they do own them anyway.

 

Edited April 3, 20188 yr by Misterwhisper

I wouldn't be too quick to believe what the military said. They too are deep in corruption and getting away with it in the deep south. Just diversion from their failed mission in the south. 

Get that state education money channeled back into officials' pockets, where it belongs.

Respectfully, this story is EXTREMELY short on details and/or evidence.

 

I think this is one where we should reserve judgement for a while... 

He's tarnishing the image of Islamic schools in pattani. Slap him with a defamation suit & the computer crimes additional 7 year sentence threat.

18 hours ago, webfact said:

as well as cooking gas and fire-extinguisher cylinders that were suspiciously hidden from view.

Why wouldn’t gas cylinders be out of sight?

Army want to blame Muslim!

Such a large sum & quite possible some of it is being given to terror groups.

Corruption is all around not just in the South or North and you can find it where ever you choose to look especially in Bangkok.

More corrupt thieves.

Hard to find honest people in authority here. 

 

 

According to the figures 

students vs teachers that is 17 students per class 

Is embezzlement a Thai word ?

I very much doubt  this  stops in the "convenient" South