The opposition People's Party (PP) has asked the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation to investigate international study programmes suspected of securing student visas for Chinese nationals who have exploited them to work illegally in Thailand.
Wiroj Lakkhanaadisorn, deputy leader of the People’s Party, cited the collapse of the State Audit Office building on March 28 as evidence supporting his claim that nearly all sectors in Thailand — including education — are being severely affected by the “zero-dollar” business model.
The term refers to a fraudulent business practice, often associated with foreign — especially Chinese — operators, that generates no real income for Thailand or local partners. The concept originated with the notorious zero-dollar tour businesses involving Chinese travel agencies and tourists.
Previously, Mr Wiroj asked the Council of Engineers to investigate Chinese engineers working in Thailand while holding student visas.
He said a probe into the SAO building revealed that several of these Chinese engineers were hired by a company registered in Thailand under Thai nominees, but actually operated by Chinese interests.
He said the “international” courses offered to the Chinese student visa-holders were conducted entirely in Chinese — fuelling suspicion the programmes were invented to allow individuals involved in the zero-dollar business to obtain student visas so they could operate in the country.
He added that even the thesis defence panellists in these graduate programmes were composed exclusively of Chinese members. Moreover, they were paid to write students’ theses, which amounts to academic fraud.
These programmes, he said, were run by a university that had been taken over by Chinese investors using Thai nominees. Tuition fees were typically paid to a parent company in China, which then funnelled partial payments to its Thai affiliate.
That Thai affiliate received minimal payments and reported very low profits in order to evade taxes, he said.
Some Chinese-run construction companies disguised themselves as local firms but imported building materials from China and only hired Chinese engineers, he said.