'Extortion' principal: It's not my money
published : 2 Feb 2023 at 14:59
writer: Gary Boyle
ORIGINAL SOURCE/WRITER: Wassayos Ngamkham
The director of a Bangkok school has been suspended for allegedly extorting money from a supplier of student lunches, while saying that the cash found in his office belonged to someone else.
The director is accused of demanding a one-time payment of 329,000 baht plus 9,000 baht a month from the lunch vendor in exchange for renewing the vendor’s contract.
The contractor complained to police who arranged a sting operation. Police had the vendor hand over the money on Wednesday and then made the arrest.
Paitoon Phumchor, 58, the new director of Bangchan School in Klong Sam Wa district, was arrested on Wednesday evening.
Cash prepared for the sting operation was found in his office.
Mr Paitoon denied the allegation and said he had met with the vendor on Wednesday to discuss complaints about the quality of student lunches. The vendor might have forgetfully left the cash envelope on his desk, he said.
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Vocabulary
- accused: to be said to have done something wrong or committed a crime - ถูกกล่าวหา
- allegation: an accusation; a statement that someone has done something wrong or illegal even though this has not been proved - ข้อกล่าวหา
- arrest: (of the police) taking someone to a police station because they are believed to have committed a crime - การจับกุม
- contract: an official written agreement - สัญญา
- denied (verb): said that something is not true or did not happen - ปฏิเสธ
- forgetful (adj): likely to forget things -
- principal: the person who is in charge of a school, college or a university - ผู้อำนวยการ,ครูใหญ่,อธิการบดี
- sting operation: an action by police to catch criminals by tricking them, e.g. by pretending to buy illegal drugs -
- vendor: someone who sells something, but often not in a shop - พ่อค้าแม่ค้าแผงลอย
