Officials began investigating illegal schools before a viral video led to more reports, and around 20 unauthorised institutions were ordered to close in March, Ms Panna told The Phuket News.
The ‘Good Shepherd Phuket Town’ school in the Soi Kingkaew area on the east side of Phuket Town ‒ the largest and densest community of people living in poverty on the island ‒ was raided on Monday (Mar 17), and the BanYa Literacy Center in Srisoonthorn, also operated by the Good Shepherd Foundation, was raided on Tuesday (Mar 18).
Both schools provide free education to children of Myanmar workers living in impoverished conditions.
Both raids followed popular YouTuber ‘Ride with Gabi’ posting a video highlighting the Soi Kingkaew slum, whose residents are nearly all Myanmar migrant workers working in Phuket’s commercial fishing fleet, and thus working at Thai minimum wage to provide seafood for the thousands of restaurants for local residents ‒ and for hotels and resorts profiting from Phuket’s “world class” tourism industry.
Phuket officials have stayed clear from making any mention that the raids were in response to the video, which called the Soi Kingkaew area the largest slum on the island.
They have also avoided the word “slum”, which by definition is “a squalid and overcrowded urban street or district inhabited by very poor people”.
While avoiding any mention of the video, Phuket Vice Governor Adul Chuthong at a press conference on Monday ‒ specifically held to announce the ‘Good Shepherd’ raids ‒ said Phuket authorities “have addressed concerns regarding reports of a foreign-run Myanmar community and a free school operating in the province”.
Ms Panna maintains that the raids were part of a sweep of illegal schools operating on the island that was already underway.
“Before this went viral, we came down a long time ago, even before that. We have taken action on 55 private schools that had illegally opened,” she said.
“This isn’t just about the issue going viral or more schools being reported to officials, but illegal schools must follow the law… On Mar 5-7, more than 20 unauthorised learning institutions were ordered to shut down,” she added.
“Even if these institutions claim to be learning centres rather than schools, they must still operate under the correct legal framework,” Ms Panna said.
Ms Panna did not differentiate between illegally opened “language schools” whose paying customers were recently arrived long-stay visitors on the island from charity-run schools providing free basic education to children of the poorest families in Phuket.
However, she did admit that pressure to investigate increased after the video went viral.
Ms Panna stated that inspections have been carried out with support from the Immigration Police, Tourist Police, the Phuket Provincial Administrative Organisation (PPAO) and other local officials.
“We are not ignoring illegal schools like Baan Ya school, which we have investigated before. But the problem is that when we receive reports and inspect, the schools are often empty, shut down or have already relocated.
“In the case of the BanYa school, we have conducted inspections two or three times, but every time we go, they close before we arrive. We only managed to catch them days ago,” she said.
FREE EDUCATION FOR ALL
Ms Panna confirmed that under Thai law all children, regardless of nationality, have the right to free education in the country.
However, stunningly, and despite the very clear wording in the Constitution, Ms Panna gave her definition as conditional ‒ saying that in order to access free education the parents of the child must have a valid work permit.
“According to the Ministry of Education, children can legally study in government schools if their parents have a valid work permit,” Ms Panna said.
That understanding flies in the face of Section 54 of the current Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand (2017), which under ‘Duties of the State’ mandates: “The State shall ensure that every child receives quality education for twelve years from pre-school to the completion of compulsory education free of charge.
“The State shall ensure that young children receive care and development prior to education under paragraph one to develop their physical body, mind, discipline, emotion, social skills and intelligence in accordance with their age, by also promoting and supporting local administrative organisations and the private sector to participate in such undertaking,” Section 54 continues.
“In undertaking to provide young children to receive care and development under paragraph two or to provide people the education under paragraph three, the State shall undertake to provide persons with insufficient means with financial support for educational expenses in accordance with their aptitudes,” Section 54 also mandates.
Further challenging Ms Panna’s understanding of providing free education in Thailand, Section 27 of the Constitution mandates: “All persons are equal before the law, and shall have rights and liberties and be protected equally under the law. Men and women shall enjoy equal rights.
“Unjust discrimination against a person on the grounds of differences in origin, race, language, gender, age, disability, physical or health condition, personal status, economic and social standing, religious belief, education, or political view which is not contrary to the provisions of the Constitution or on any other grounds, shall not be permitted.”
LANGUAGE BARRIER
Ms Panna seemed confused about education provided to foreign children, and included Myanmar children from impoverished families in the same category as children of foreign parents attending expensive international schools.
For some reason, to Ms Panna, both were considered equal and the only common issue was the language barrier.
“Children can attend government schools or international schools based on their needs, with efforts being made to support non-Thai students who may face language barriers,” Ms Panna said.
“Children already have access to education, whether or not they attend a learning centre. They can enroll in government schools across Phuket, ensuring they receive quality education close to home,” she added.
“This opportunity is available to all children, regardless of nationality or ethnicity, including Myanmar and other international students,” she said.
“Most international children attend international schools. However, Myanmar children and other non-Thai students may face language barriers. To support them, we have staff who can communicate in Myanmar and other foreign languages, ensuring they receive the necessary assistance for their education,” she continued.
Ms Panna said that children living in underprivileged areas, such as the Soi Kingkaew slum, also have access to government schools.
However, Ms Panna failed to identify any government schools in the Soi Kingkaew area that the Myanmar children could attend.
She also failed to explain any assistance the schools operating within the Phuket Provincial Education Area Office’s area of responsibility were providing to children from poor Myanmar families.
The Phuket News spoke with teachers at several government schools to ask whether they had staff who could speak “Burmese” or support these students. They responded that they had never seen such personnel.
Ms Panna also gave no comment to claims online that the Thai government was providing funding to the ‘Good Shepherd Phuket Town’ school or the BanYa Literacy Center.