Former school director gets 192 years in prison over school lunch scandal

[malthebluff]

It seems sentences are extremely high where money is stolen or defrauded or where anything political is concerned.  But very low where murder, rape or muggings happen, 8 years plus compo for victims family seem the average norm for murder here. 

[dkg224]

3 hours ago, NorthernRyland said:

This kind of corruption plagues rural roads also. They build a brand new road and the builder uses less material than they were contracted for and then takes the money saved and keeps it for themselves. 12 months later the brand new road is filled will holes and the crew gets to come back and get paid again to fix the mess.

 

I also bring this up to people and they seem very uninterested or even make excuses "yeah that's so they'll more work next year, it's smart" etc... Corruption is deeply embedded in the minds of the common man so I don't expect you can change this by throwing a few people in jail every so often.

I’ve never heard anyone else say this besides my girlfriend. She is from the north, they like to say southern Thai people eat rocks because of this road building scheme. She worked for a large construction company and she told me this exact thing about the contractor taking government money for roads and doing a half-ass job with less material then a year later getting a contact to fix the road again. 

[NoshowJones]

6 hours ago, 2baht said:

Let's see if his hairs still black when he gets out! ????

I bet his neck is still red. ????

[NorthernRyland]

13 minutes ago, dkg224 said:

I’ve never heard anyone else say this besides my girlfriend. She is from the north, they like to say southern Thai people eat rocks because of this road building scheme. She worked for a large construction company and she told me this exact thing about the contractor taking government money for roads and doing a half-ass job with less material then a year later getting a contact to fix the road again. 

That's where I am and I'm a cyclist so I'm very sensitive to the road condition. This happens on nearly every road. If you pay attention to what they do, they don't make a solid foundation and then the road surface is spread thin like peanut butter. It's a scourge.

[Thingamabob]

A rotten way to treat children in your care. Sentence is harsh but justified in my opinion. Be good to see equally harsh sentences for rape and murder which, for some reason which is beyond me, get treated more leniently here in Thailand.

[NoshowJones]

4 hours ago, fittobethaied said:

My stepdaughter is a government schoolteacher, and she has told me horrid stories of rampant corruption by these school directors. She is in charge of managing the budget for the school, so she has first-hand knowledge of the problems. A major Thai bank gives the school 400K per year to supplement the school lunch program, and the director steals half of it. This is only one of many ways that these crooked directors game the system.

and if these crooked directors get reported to someone higher up the chain, you can bet that their noses will also be in that very same trough, hence nothing will be done.

[trainman34014]

6 hours ago, Orinoco said:

Good.

I hope to see many more scumbags like this go to jail.

Reckon there are thousands of them in school administration. 

 

 

If all the Thieves in this country were jailed; there would be very few people left.   The Schools are only the tip of the Iceberg !

[Kalasin Jo]

13 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

I like these sentences.. and I am wondering when someone will get 4 times death penalty... I think it will be difficult after the first time to do the second ne.. Same now 192 years in prison... What will happen if he dies in 10 years because no suspension... 

Crazy hey?!

[Orinoco]

1 minute ago, trainman34014 said:

If all the Thieves in this country were jailed; there would be very few people left.   The Schools are only the tip of the Iceberg !

Sounds like a,  win win ,to me. 

[NoshowJones]

54 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

Off the top I can think of two.... 

I have already mentioned them. ????

[khunpa]

While those who steal from the entire population on a daily bases have nothing to worry about…

[crazykopite]

There needs to be a level playing field from the government downwards when it comes to corruption and fraud a few years back I applied to get a yellow house book I went to the government building on Samui with my accountant we talked to a couple of officials and they came up with an answer that I would have to pay 25,000 baht I turned around and left yet in Koh Phangan I had a yellow book in 30 minutes the total cost 200 baht plus a pink ID card I’ve even heard of some foreigners paying an IO 20,000+ baht to get a particular visa 

[Dont confuse me]

50 years inside for some rice and fish sauce 10 for killing someone!  Maybe less if you drive a ferrari! 

A review of sentencing policies might be in order ???? 

[ikke1959]

2 minutes ago, Dont confuse me said:

50 years inside for some rice and fish sauce 10 for killing someone!  Maybe less if you drive a ferrari! 

A review of sentencing policies might be in order ???? 

A review?? Thailand should enter the 21st century with its outdated laws, the corruption all over, so that the few with money always get less punishment. There is a big need for a radical reformation, but as long as the people let it happen nothing will change. 

[Iamfalang]

14 hours ago, Sparktrader said:

50 years for small lunch?

 

5 to 10 years for murder

 

Crazy

I get it, and, believe it or not, I'm NOT a scientist..............lol

 

BUT...............WHAT IF............... small lunches have hurt the development of these kids' brains and destroyed their ability to do certain tasks................having life-long negative effects on learning.  Their brains are developing.

 

That's like destroying 77 brains.......................

 

so there you go.

 

Maybe I am a scientist.  lol

[billd766]

4 hours ago, BangkokReady said:

Sounds like he will literally be getting a taste of his own medicine.

He will probably pay 'extra' and get special food sent in for himself  only.

[johncat1]

Being sentenced and actually going to jail are 2 different things in Thailand. He is probably free on bail pending an appeal, which could take years with all those charges against him.

Even some convicted murderers who have been given the death penalty have been freed on bail pending an appeal.  Crazy laws here. Most countries prisoners have to appeal from their prison cell ( through lawyers ) they are not allowed to be freed one sentenced.

[kevc]

I wonder what he used to have for lunch while the children were eating.

[Liverpool Lou]

7 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

8 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

If he dies in prison in ten years, he dies in ten years; what do you expect to happen to him, prop him up in a call for the next forty years? 

you don't understand ...... it is a ridiculous sentence 192 years without suspension....see the joke of it 

No, it's who doesn't understand; he faced 77 charges, 5 years for each charge and 192 years is not what his actual sentence is, that's 50 years, before any commutation.

[freedomnow]

Nearly wiped out my notebook keyboard with mouthful of tea with that headline.

[tomacht8]

5 hours ago, trainman34014 said:

If all the Thieves in this country were jailed; there would be very few people left.   The Schools are only the tip of the Iceberg !

True. A similar scheme of fraudulent enrichment is running in some army barracks. The recruits get 6-7K baht per month as pay and free food. After 3 months of basic training there is the deal. The recruits are then "unofficially" allowed to go home and can work in jobs where they can earn significantly more money. However, the recruit remains on the Army Paylist for the entire duration of his service. The monthly soldier's pay of 6-7K plus the meal allowance then becomes pocket money for some higher senior army personnel who have the power to make such deals. A win win situation for the actors, but in the end the taxpayer pays for diverting public money into privat pockets. TiT

[SchuetzRob]

And he is not required to pay back his profits?!

[pacovl46]

192 years? Wow! A bit overkill, if you ask me.

[thaibeachlovers]

18 hours ago, NorthernRyland said:

This kind of corruption plagues rural roads also. They build a brand new road and the builder uses less material than they were contracted for and then takes the money saved and keeps it for themselves. 12 months later the brand new road is filled will holes and the crew gets to come back and get paid again to fix the mess.

In Lamphun I lived in an area privately developed for residences. The concrete road obviously didn't have enough cement in the mix because the road fell apart. However, they never got the road builder back to repair it, so everyone had to put up with a terrible road.

[thaibeachlovers]

12 hours ago, kevc said:

I wonder what he used to have for lunch while the children were eating.

Ever read Oliver Twist?

[carlyai]

On 10/22/2022 at 4:17 AM, smedly said:

I wonder how many there are in Thailand that are unusually rich and cannot account for

When you get your grand total,   -1 for me.

[Purdey]

On 10/22/2022 at 9:29 AM, Liverpool Lou said:

How did you get to visit a group of prisoners, or a lone female prisoner,

I was part of a project to assist prisoners (training). The one guard led my group to a large room where there were prisoners working. The guard walked ahead with the rest of the team and I hung back for a chat. Not sure the guard knew I speak Thai..

[Purdey]

On 10/22/2022 at 9:37 AM, Liverpool Lou said:

from an available list the night before, all above board options in Thai prisons.   Coffee and doughnuts for breakfast, fast food sent in, fresh fruit given out during the day, all daily occurrences. 

What on earth are you smoking? I wrote what on old woman said and you assume it was a men’s prison???

there are no doughnuts in Thai prisons for Thais. Order food from a prison shop? What prison shop and what money do you think prisoners make? 

Get off your high horse and come down to reality. Thai women prisoners are mostly from impoverished backgrounds and don’t have money. Many don’t have visitors because they can’t afford the bus for long distances.

This isn’t Sweden.

[Lucky Bones]

It is quite frightening when I see parents or grandparents tuck 20, 40 or 100 baht into the childs school uniform.

Money that will never be seen again until a mercedes appears at school.????????

[Liverpool Lou]

On 10/24/2022 at 12:15 PM, Purdey said:

What on earth are you smoking? ... there are no doughnuts in Thai prisons for Thais. Order food from a prison shop? What prison shop and what money do you think prisoners make? 

"What on earth are you smoking?"

Reality is what I indulge in.

 

 Doughnuts can be ordered the previous night by any prisoners for the next morning (as you would know if you'd spent any time in Klong Prem), as can other food items to supplement, or have in place of, what is offered free, three times a day, for example.    

 

What prison shop?  Every prison has a shop for the inmates.   Bread, marg, jam, canned fish, 3-in-1 coffee sachets (hot water provided by the prison in the mornings), pot noodle and pot rice tubs and many other food items plus small selection of clothing such as shorts  are available.   All prisoners have a prison account opened for them into which visitors can deposit cash up to B9,000 and a card is issued a card for them to use for purchases.  Items that are bought by the prisoners have the cost deducted from the balance of those accounts.

 

There is also a convenience store-type shop on the visitors side where many items can be bought by visitors and delivered to inmates.  Ice cream was frequently sent in from the visitors shop for prisoners.