Education officials have pledged to release findings within seven days of an investigation into alleged sexual abuse of several girls by the 43-year-old deputy director of a school in Tak province.
The investigation was ordered after details of the scandal were posted on the Red Skull Facebook page on Thursday, demanding legal help for the victims and disciplinary action against the offender.
The victims reportedly were Matthayom 2 to Matthayom 6 students aged from 12 to 18 years old, from various ethnic groups studying at Rat Prachanukhro 55 School in Muang district of the border province.
The post on Red Skull said that the deputy director had had a reputation for harassing girls for years. Last year alone, it said, at least 15 students had to leave the school because of their experiences.
The assaults reportedly took place when girls were called to the teacher’s house to work on a project with him, said Thanu Wongchinda, secretary-general of the Office of the Basic Education Commission (Obec).
Some of the victims gathered screenshots of lewd chats they said the teacher had engaged in, including some in which he sent them pictures of his genitalia, as evidence that they then presented to school administrators.
However, no action was taken against the suspect and the girls were told to keep their mouths shut, according to the Red Skull post. At that point, the girls decided to take their complaints online.
After the details went viral, Mr Thanu said the Ministry of Education acknowledged the incident and demanded swift action.
Any inappropriate actions by the teacher against the students would constitute a violation of the ministry’s policies, he said.
Although the school in question told Obec that it had conducted an investigation, Obec has assigned another investigative team, while psychiatrists are being sent to help the victims.
The deputy director in question has been transferred to work at Obec headquarters until the investigation is finished.