“Prasert” reveals investigation into OBEC official involved in scamming children with China study trip, duping 60 lives out of 2.4 million baht, vows unrelenting punishment and urgent remedy

Today (20 October 2026) at 9:25 AM, at Government House, Mr. Prasert Jantararuangthong, Minister of Education, gave an interview regarding the case of students being scammed into paying for an educational trip to China that never took place, involving an official from the Office of the Basic Education Commission (OBEC). He stated that initial findings show approximately 60 students affected across 11 schools, mostly located in the central region, including Bangkok, Nonthaburi, and Nakhon Sawan.

Mr. Prasert disclosed that OBEC established a fact-finding committee immediately upon learning of the incident, with a 7-day timeframe starting last Monday and expected to conclude within this week. Most recently, the accused was summoned for questioning, revealing that the individual is a senior professional level official under OBEC and actually committed the act.

The Minister of Education added that moving forward, representatives from the involved schools and the affected parents will be invited to provide information to gather full facts regarding who suffered losses and the exact amounts involved. The trick involved deceiving victims with a multi-day study trip to Xi'an University in China, but when the victims arrived at the airport, no travel arrangements existed.

When asked whether the inability to travel was an intentional scam from the start, Mr. Prasert confirmed it was deliberate fraud from the beginning, carried out privately under false pretenses without any involvement from the Ministry of Education. Regarding the number of accomplices and whether this had occurred before, preliminary findings reveal 2 individuals involved. The accused had engaged in similar behavior in the past, but the matter went quiet for several years until repeating the offense. As for payment procedures, parents transferred travel funds through an outside party who was not an OBEC official, and a financial trace confirmed the funds were indeed transferred to that outside individual.

Regarding whether the external party regularly organized trips or had never taken anyone before, Mr. Prasert noted that this remains under investigation. When asked about disciplinary measures, such as whether the official should be suspended from government service pending results, the Minister clarified that if the fact-finding investigation reveals clear evidence, the maximum and final penalty will be imposed immediately.

Regarding the financial damage, Mr. Prasert stated that victims were charged approximately 39,900 baht each, or around 40,000 baht. Calculated for 60 victims, the total damage amounts to roughly 2.4 million baht. Since similar incidents occur frequently, he instructed Educational Service Area Offices to closely monitor such activities and urged schools to check whether teachers or individuals are falsely claiming to organize events without the knowledge of the schools or OBEC, in order to prevent recurring damage.

Mr. Prasert emphasized at the end that the Ministry of Education will prosecute and punish the offenders to the fullest extent urgently, while accelerating remedies to reimburse the victims. Regarding the source of funds for reimbursement and the current status of the transferred money, the financial investigation and tracking are currently underway, with the entire verification process expected to conclude by this Friday.