Areeya Language School Closed - Students Abandoned

[karlski]

So, I started this as a new thread because many who visitied the old thread might not have guessed about the recent news.

I went to class yesterday (December 2nd, 1PM) excited to have my new ED visa from Penang, and discovered that school was closed due to non-payment of rent. The windows and doors were shuttered with metal security gates, and no sign of the owner/teacher.

This news was conveyed by a tenant/landlady nearby, and they appeared to have a first-hand involvement in the situation, explaining that the school kept saying they'd pay, and never did.

I wasn't able to see if all the school's belonging's were still there or not but a few other people walking past confirmed it had "closed".

Calls to the owner of the school who happens to be my teacher, have been unanswered.

There are 2 other students in my class, and we all have ED visas that depend on the ongoing class/learning/signatures & other documentation native to an ED visa. So not only has she taken our money, we are stuck at an immigration level. I have till Feb 25th before I need another stamp.

Do we complain to the Education Ministry? The Police? The new Governor of Phuket?

My only remaining option at this point is to join another school, or simply wait till Feb 25th and do some other kind of visa, which will no doubt be annoying.

What's the best plan?

I paid 35,000 baht for this. I know my two classmates are very angry. We had about 7 classes out of 180 we were sold.

[Galong]

So, I started this as a new thread because many who visitied the old thread might not have guessed about the recent news.

I went to class yesterday (December 2nd, 1PM) excited to have my new ED visa from Penang, and discovered that school was closed due to non-payment of rent. The windows and doors were shuttered with metal security gates, and no sign of the owner/teacher.

This news was conveyed by a tenant/landlady nearby, and they appeared to have a first-hand involvement in the situation, explaining that the school kept saying they'd pay, and never did.

I wasn't able to see if all the school's belonging's were still there or not but a few other people walking past confirmed it had "closed".

Calls to the owner of the school who happens to be my teacher, have been unanswered.

There are 2 other students in my class, and we all have ED visas that depend on the ongoing class/learning/signatures & other documentation native to an ED visa. So not only has she taken our money, we are stuck at an immigration level. I have till Feb 25th before I need another stamp.

Do we complain to the Education Ministry? The Police? The new Governor of Phuket?

My only remaining option at this point is to join another school, or simply wait till Feb 25th and do some other kind of visa, which will no doubt be annoying.

What's the best plan?

I paid 35,000 baht for this. I know my two classmates are very angry. We had about 7 classes out of 180 we were sold.

Libellous comments removed. Astral

My friend went down with another friend to meet with Areeya to sort out the language lessons and guess what, Areeya spat the dummy and refused to teacher her. She didn't offer to give the money back either of course.

I suggest getting an attorney involved because Areeya is nothing more than a thief who tries to scam tourists out of their money. We plan on taking her to court. It would be nice if everyone who was cheated went together. PM me if you wish.

[MTLae]

Hello Everyone,

We are so sorry to hear that from you and we would sugguest you that you can report the police and then the Ministry of Education. Normally, the school that have the right to issue the letter for Education visa. They must approval by Ministry of Education and they also have another department if the school cannot open, the owner of school must report the Ministry of Education. That means if you want your money back. You can go to report the police and bring all documents that you got from school to show that you paid the course and see if on the receipt has conditions of payment. Many school they say they will not pay money back or "non-refundable" in any case. You have to notice and try to collect all documents that you got from school.

We really hope that you can find the solution very soon and if you need to make ED visa you can apply with any new Thai Language School.

Best regards,

Kroo Ae

[jdinasia]

Get 10 students to file complaints with the police and you WILL get some action.

[astral]

It appears that the school is now closed.

Reports to the Police and Min of Education are the next logical steps.

Please restrict you posts to facts, not libelous accusations.

Thanks

[karlski]

It appears that the school is now closed.

yes. I have found two of the other students, and we are meeting tonight to discuss her recent contacts with a lawyer, and yes, we'll notify the police.

[karlski]

It appears that the school is now closed.

yes. I have found two of the other students, and we are meeting tonight to discuss recent contacts with a lawyer, and yes, we'll notify the police.

The lawyer says we have a good case right now since it's more than one of us, and we all have receipts.

The Police were resistant at first to even deal with us, but after showing our proof and explaining things slowly in part Thai, they said we have to wait till next week for one of the staff to return next Monday who can handle this. Showing up as a group somehow had an impact, i'm pretty sure we'd have been turned away if we had shown up one by one. It may end up we get referred to an entirely different station.

We still need some more paperwork but I have my receipts and made xerox copies of all the paperwork so i'd have it in case something like this came up.

Still have yet to get into dialogue with the Education Ministry.

[kriswillems]

Karlski,

If the police is not willing to help much you could try to call the tourist police (number 1699). Normally they should be able to speak English. It very common in Thailand to make a small "donation" to the "local" police to avoid problems. Your teacher might have done that too (or you may do it). Therefore it can be good to involve as much police officers as possible .

There a small risk in loosing your visa in the process (because you're not studying), but I think you're on the right track.

Goodluck.

[MacWalen]

anything new about the case?

[karlski]

anything new about the case?

After serious effort by every single student, indirect/proxy contact was made with the school owner after about 2 weeks. It took another 4 days to get a call from the owner, stating that the closure was an unforseen problem and would be dealt with, that we should remain patient.

At this point regular updates went out from the owner/teacher as to when/where the school might re-open.

Legal remedies were put on standby, and many of the students contacted one-another to exchange opinions and facts on the matter.

It was decided that we should be patient and allow a chance for things to settle. Those with visa problems had to spend some cash and go out of country, but everyone made it back intact, albeit with a discernible added level of irritation.

After 5 weeks of closure, the course was re-established at another location, and within a slightly different structural context. By this I mean more than one owner/director, that likely existed prior in a separate manner before merging into what it is now.

The new school is located in Kathu.

It's just as professionally set up as the previous one, perhaps even more so, as it contains an additional classroom, and there appears to be more than one teacher.

We were treated to some food and drinks, explanations given, and things resumed their normal status.

Class was taught, homework assigned, etc.

Back to consonant clusters, pronunciation rules, sentential structure, vocabulary.

[karlski]

I'd like to state again, for the record, the school is open, functioning, and working as normal, and provide some notes on how things have been going.

The delay in notifying the students stemmed from a variety of factors, many that were circumstances beyond the control of the school.

While we took this as an affront to our having fairly paid ahead and were primarily concerned about our visas and coursework halting temporarily, -the owner of the school went the extra mile and got the school back in session, and in record time.

We'd like to congratulate the owner of the school on getting things back on track. It's not easy to re-locate a school, resume classes, and actually catch up, and pass, where we left off. In this case, that's how it's gone. We are back ahead of schedule now.

The new school is in a good location, and we attend 3 days a week, and are considering adding a 4th day.

We've been working quite hard in the class, and the teacher has been there for us every step of the way, -we want to note these items publicly and make an effort to clear the slate from the previous comments on this topic.

If you have any doubts about the school at this point, please give the school the benefit of the doubt and accept our word that it's a solid academic course, taught by a certified set of professionals, who really care about the work they do.

Also know that if you go here, that it's a legitimate school, they don't cut corners. Part of this very much involves you as a student being serious about learning Thai. It's not super-easy to teach it, or learn it, -but serious commitment on both sides has us well on the way to accomplishing the goal of speaking, reading, and writing this language, with proficiency, and some creativity.

Come by the school and see for yourself, -there are plenty of reference materials and the kind staff will be happy to give you useful tips and information about how coursework is conducted, as well as advice about how Thailand's immigration and education ministries process incoming students for long term visas.

Cheers...