Recently, a fraud case involving a study tour to China has attracted attention in Thailand. According to reports from the Bangkok Post and the Nation newspaper on October 17th, 62 Thai middle and high school students from Bangkok and surrounding provinces paid tens of thousands of Thai bahts for a study tour to China. Before boarding the flight at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, they were told that there was no information regarding any tickets. After realizing they had been deceived, the students cried, and their parents reported the case to the police on the 15th. The Thailand Basic Education Commission (OBEC) denied any official involvement in this project and stated that an investigation has been launched.
According to preliminary police investigations, the study tour was originally scheduled to take place from October 15th to 26th. The itinerary included learning Chinese and getting to know local culture. Each student paid 39,900 Thai bahts (approximately 8,000 RMB) to the organizers. Parents communicated with the organizers via Line groups to transfer the money. The organizer is a private Chinese language institute located in Thailand.
Parents told the media that they trusted the organizers because one of them claimed to have a doctorate degree, and another claimed to be an official from the Thai Basic Education Commission (OBEC). The OBEC is under the Ministry of Education in Thailand and is responsible for basic education in primary and secondary schools.
Some parents revealed that on October 11, the organizer suddenly notified them to change the itinerary, stating that “the university dormitory in Xi'an, the original destination, could not accommodate the entire team.” The itinerary was hastily changed to Beijing. Some parents questioned this at the time, but at a briefing on the 13th, the organizer’s representative assured them that the trip would proceed as scheduled, calming the parents until the incident happened at the airport.
After the incident, the organizers verbally promised to refund the full amount on that day. However, so far, only a very small number of parents have received a small portion of the refund, and the whereabouts of the remaining funds remain unknown.
According to latest statistics, the number of schools affected has increased to more than 11, with a total of 62 students being victimized. The total amount involved in the scam has also exceeded several million Thai bahts.
The police investigation also found that this is not the first time that the academy has been involved in such incidents. On October 12th, another study tour group organized by the academy and headed to Chongqing, China, was complained to the Thai Consumer Protection Police Department by a group of parents who alleged that the group had engaged in fraudulent activities, such as changing the itinerary suddenly, changing the destination school without reason, and refusing to refund the money.
Due to the false propaganda carried out under an official banner in the past, the case quickly caused alarm among Thailand's education and digital economy departments.
In response to claims by some organizers who claim to be officials of OBEC and have signed cooperation memorandums with Chinese universities, OBEC Secretary-General Tanu Kwon De issued a statement on October 16, emphasizing that the project was entirely organized by private institutions and was purely a commercial activity. The official side has never participated in or signed any form of cooperation agreements.
Thailand's Minister of Digital Economy and Society, Plesser, stated that a fact-finding committee has been established to expedite the investigation into the true identities of the organizers involved. If it is confirmed that an employee of OBEC was involved in fraud or made false statements, severe disciplinary and criminal responsibilities will be pursued according to the law.
