Illegal language school raided on Koh Phangan
published : 30 Jan 2025 at 07:03
writer: Gary Boyle
ORIGINAL SOURCE/WRITER: Supapong Chaolan

Police have arrested four Myanmar people for illegally running a Burmese-language school for 190 Myanmar children in a church on Koh Phangan.
Police and local officials found the school operating inside Koh Phangan International Church on Tuesday.
There were 190 Myanmar children present, aged 3-12 years. Police also found 31 English- and Burmese-language textbooks.
Police arrested Aye Mya Thu Zar, 40, Yan Naing Soe, 31, Mya Mya Win, 33, and Chit Phyo Naung, 21, who were charged with illegally operating the school. Two of them were also prosecuted for working without a permit.
Police said the school was opened six months ago and the students were the children of Myanmar workers on Koh Phangan. The school charged 300 baht a day for each pupil.
Police were looking for the real owner of the school, and would also find out if the parents of the Myanmar children had work permits, he said.
Last year authorities closed six Burmese-language schools in this southern province.
Local education authorities earlier said Thai schools could serve Myanmar children but admission was difficult for children whose parents were illegal migrants.
Vocabulary
- admission: permission to enter a place - การเข้าชม การเข้างาน
- authority (noun): a person or government agency who has the power to make decisions or enforce the law - เจ้าหน้าที่ผู้มีอำนาจ
- migrant: someone who travels to another place or country in order to find work (an immigrant is someone who comes to live in a country from another country) - ผู้อพยพ, คนงานต่างถิ่น
- operate: to carry out an activity like running a business - ดำเนินการ
- permit: an official document that gives you permission to do something - ใบอนุญาต
- prosecute: to officially accuse someone of a crime and to try to prove them guilty in a court of law - ดำเนินคดี ฟ้องร้อง ซักฟอก