PHUKET – Three young 5th graders have been caught after breaking into a school's computer lab to play video games, because they had no money to go to a cyber cafe, according to a report in <i>Matichon</i> newspaper.
About 11.30pm on Sunday, police received a complaint from a teacher that three students had broken into a school in Thalang district school and damaged some school property.
Police sent to the school were met by six teachers standing in front of the computer lab waiting for them.
Police said when they entered the room the 5th graders ignored them and continued to play video games on the computer.
Police found wrappers for instant noodles and snacks as well as several cigarette butts on the floor.
There were also several pillows and blankets lying in a corner of the room, and they found a knife among the boys’ possessions.
According to the police, the boys admitted having run away from home on Jan 19. They broke into the school’s computer lab because they wanted to play games and did not have anywhere else to go.
They said they wanted to play online games but did not have any money to spend in cyber cafes so they decided to break into the school.
They admitted to have broken into the computer lab several times, police said.
The teachers told police that they have punished the boys several times before, but this time they decided to call the police, hoping that they would learn their lesson this way.
The students were made to clean up the computer lab and were then taken to the police station and their parents were notified.