A school director in Kanchanaburi province faced scrutiny after a Facebook page, known as Operation Watchdog, posted allegations of negligence, claiming the director only attended school three times a week. Investigations by education officials have found no misconduct.
According to the Facebook post, the director reportedly missed school weeks entirely by claiming official duties, while residing in Tha Maka district, which is 230 kilometres from the school. Allegedly, urgent documents were sent to the director’s home for signing, requiring teachers to drive nearly 500 kilometres round trip, with fuel expenses reimbursed by the school. Teachers needing urgent matters addressed were also expected to visit the director’s residence.
Phai-chaya Phimsa-ree, director of the Secondary Educational Service Area Office in Kanchanaburi, formed a committee to investigate these claims. This committee included school administrative personnel, heads of general administration and budget management, and two members from the school’s basic educational committee. None of the committee members had any close ties with the director.
The first allegation of attending school only three times a week was dismissed as the investigation confirmed the director attended school regularly, only missing days for meetings or official duties. It was noted that if meetings were held within the district or municipality, the director would return to school immediately after.
On the second allegation concerning the signing of documents at the director’s home, all parties confirmed that this did not occur as reported. However, the budget management head mentioned that urgent financial documents were once taken to the director for signing due to a meeting at the Secondary Educational Service Area Office in Kanchanaburi.
Regarding the third allegation about fuel reimbursements, it was clarified that the director primarily used a personal vehicle for official duties, with fuel expenses claimed according to government regulations. Occasionally, the school’s van was used, but this was rare. The investigation did not reveal any irregularities in the director’s official conduct, reported KhaoSod.
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