Picture courtesy of Daily News.

 

The long-running case of a former school director accused of corruption in a notorious school lunch scandal has finally come to an end, after the Supreme Court dismissed his final appeal.

 

On 26 August, officials from the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) Region 8 confirmed that Mr Somchao Sitthachenchern, former director of Ban Tha Mai School in Tha Chana District, Surat Thani, must serve a prison term of 20 years and six months.

 

The case, which first drew public outrage in 2020, centred on allegations that kindergarten pupils at the school were served plain rice noodles topped only with fish sauce for lunch, despite government funding intended to provide nutritious meals. Investigators later uncovered falsified documents relating to the purchase of food supplies, leading to multiple corruption charges.

 

In 2021, the Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases, Region 8, convicted Mr Somchao of 77 counts, sentencing him to 192 years and six months in prison. Under Thai law, however, the maximum custodial sentence for such offences was capped at 50 years.

 

Mr Somchao appealed, and the Court of Appeal later reduced the convictions to 10 separate counts, with each carrying a maximum sentence of five years. Since he pleaded guilty, the court reduced each sentence to a total of  20 years and six months.

 

The disgraced school director then sought permission to take the case to the Supreme Court, but the request was denied. As a result, the ruling of the Court of Appeal now stands as final.

 

Mr Somchao has since been transferred to Nakhon Si Thammarat Central Prison, where he will serve the remainder of his sentence.

 

The outcome marks the conclusion of a scandal that became a national symbol of corruption and neglect within Thailand’s school lunch programme.

 

 

  Adapted by Asean Now from Daily News 2025-08-27

 

 

 

 

 

Good ridacence 

Nice one. 

More please, plenty of them out there.

Fancy doing that to the kids, Hopefully he will get the same treatment in that jail, that place is a really old jail I have drove past it a few times, 

Finally some great positive news. Rot in hell d bag. 

Enjoy your fish head soup scumbag