Gen Paibul says teachers cannot shrug off responsibility in futsal scandal

BANGKOK: -- Teachers who affixed their signatures in documents pertaining to the bidding, construction and acceptance of the flawed futsal pitches will be held accountable unless they can prove otherwise.

Justice Minister Paibul Khumchaya said today (Friday) that the teachers could not avoid responsibility by claiming that they knew nothing about the irregularities or that they were forced to sign their names in the documents against their will.

He said that, to prove their innocence, the teachers must tell the truths to the court and, if they were forced to do the signing, they must be able to identify them.

Altogether 727 teachers in 54 schools in Nakhon Ratchasima have been implicated in the futsal scandal by the Public Sector’s Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC). All of them are members of the committees involved in the bidding process, procurement or acceptance of the futsal pitches.tc

Investigation of futsal pitches in the other 16 provinces, mostly in the Northeast, is still underway. Over 680 million baht were allocated from the budget of the Office of Basic Education Committee for the futsal pitch project.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/gen-paibul-says-teachers-shrug-responsibility-futsal-scandal/

-- Thai PBS 2014-10-24

Every avenue you look down seems to find scandal and corruption.

Seems the norm.

A default setting for administrators.

And I'm sure TV only touches the fringes.

From the article:

"to prove their innocence, the teachers must tell the truths to the court"...... showing once more how there are always multiple versions of "the truth" in Thailand and there is never an ultimate "truth". What emerges eventually as "the truth" according to the official version of events, is the one where least collateral damage is done to those at the top who can manipulate it according to their whims. Further, telling the actual truth in a court, can be rather injurious to one's health in many cases, so it is always going to have to be bent according to the dictates of the powerful and cultural norms.

While not condoning these teachers who signed off on the document, in the Thai government context, great pressure can be brought to bear on subordinates to follow the dictates of their boss, who insists they must sign for the sake of unity. Even when they gain no material benefit, to keep the peace they sign, sometimes to their cost later on, when politics change. I know of one university lecturer who lost her job to a scenario like this, where she signed something as a new member of staff wanting to conform to the boss's will, but it later turned out to be a corrupt project and she was stung by it.

If that is the futsal pitch I would not even let young kids play on it!

On another thread today, officials were accused of stealing from the elderly and sick, and now from the children!!

This country is morally bankrupt!!

And what is so sad is the finances were put into place, many many many schools and kids would benefit from these futsal pitches, only to have sub-standard quality due to "greed" of the powers that be. This is truly criminal.

Every avenue you look down seems to find scandal and corruption.

Seems the norm.

A default setting for administrators.

And I'm sure TV only touches the fringes.

Yes Thainess along with avoiding taking responsibility for ANYTHING.

That pitch looks like 99% of the roads around Surin. Must be the same contractor.

Small sardines in shoals of sharks.

Blaming the teachers is a distraction from the true criminal

Mr. Big never pays the piper in Thailand. It's the subordinates that always pay. That's the one thing I learned living in this country. Look how many low level drug dealers are paraded around the newspapers daily. Have you ever seen a top guy getting busted? That's thainess .

Whoever signed off on this should have their finances audited , and whoever built these should be shut down and have their assets confiscated , we all know that is just never going to happen.

Blaming the teachers is a distraction from the true criminal

Oh and pray tell who is that - please don't tell me it's Thaksin..............................

I predict that very soon even the "untouchable" will be "touched"

Hell Yeah!!!!!!

Why would 'regular' teachers be given the responsibility for the contracting and procurement of sports equipment? This is what the article seems to explain. If this is, in fact, the case, then it would seem to me that these committees were established to shield those who actually should assume responsibility for the fiasco. An examination of the whole process must be made.

On another thread today, officials were accused of stealing from the elderly and sick, and now from the children!!

This country is morally bankrupt!!

Wrong! This country has been developing a new form of morals, and seemingly, development starts at the learning age.

Blaming the teachers is a distraction from the true criminal

Oh and pray tell who is that - please don't tell me it's Thaksin..............................

Yep....U have got it right once again Fab....I actually saw him inspecting one while it was being laid and he was busy berating the guys in no uncertain terms that they were using too much glue and suggesting that they should use a paste made of rice flour and water....see how clever he is....use up some the excess rice...brilliant man ...not

Blaming the teachers is a distraction from the true criminal

Oh and pray tell who is that - please don't tell me it's Thaksin..............................

No, apparently it's one of the Pheu-Thai cronies using his 'fringe benefits' to engage in scams like this. All part of the package when they passed the interview in Dubai - and also why they all voted for the disgraceful amnesty bill 310:0.

I think there are a lot of lower level teachers who signed because their boss told them to or they had no idea what a 'good' pitch looks like while it is new. I wonder how many of the organ grinders will actually get prosecuted or will it just be the monkeys to make it look like action was taken?. No doubt this story will drag out until the media stop reporting it like the microphones.

Blaming the teachers is a distraction from the true criminal

Oh and pray tell who is that - please don't tell me it's Thaksin..............................

Don't worry Fab! I do think this one scam will leave your boyfriend unscathed...So never fear when Thaksins not here...

I'd like to say i don't believe it,BUT

Why would 'regular' teachers be given the responsibility for the contracting and procurement of sports equipment? This is what the article seems to explain. If this is, in fact, the case, then it would seem to me that these committees were established to shield those who actually should assume responsibility for the fiasco. An examination of the whole process must be made.

Exactly - get as many people to sign off on something, then if it all goes tits up blame them. If it doesn't you keep all the "benefit" but praise them for "good job".

Thainess - something to behold and marvel at.

Happy Diwali.

Al through sad for the involved teacher i think it would be a first step to grow up.

If you sign you are responsible. If you have no idea about what you sign don't sign.

I hope only that this will be a good example and that not only the teachers get the blame. How about school directors, administrators, contractors, inspectors......... and the list is so long.

Grab them, look in their financials and belongings, don t forget to take in passports and please clean up the mess.

Blaming the teachers is a distraction from the true criminal

Oh and pray tell who is that - please don't tell me it's Thaksin..............................

Ridiculous reply, But if the cap fit's wear it. Did moe666 even get near to saying who he believed was the head beneficiary.??

Blaming the teachers is a distraction from the true criminal

Oh and pray tell who is that - please don't tell me it's Thaksin..............................

Ridiculous reply, But if the cap fit's wear it. Did moe666 even get near to saying who he believed was the head beneficiary.??

After this investigation concludes I wonder if they'll move on to investigate the purchase of $30 million worth of fake bomb detectors by the military?

What on earth would... let's say a P3 Thai teacher know about purchasing and installing a futsal pitch? Go to the schools directors... Ask why they don't have textbooks either.

The level of corruption in the Thai education system, from top to bottom, is absolutely scandalous. Look at the education budget - it's enormous. As a percentage of GDP, Thailand is one of yhe highest spenders on education anywhere on the globe. Then go and look at how much of this massive budget filters down to the classroom. Practically none of it is the answer. It all gets siphoned off on the way through by a pack of criminals who in any law-abiding country would all be behind bars. Of all the things about Thailand, this business of stealing their own children's futures is the one that really makes me despair.