Nakhon Ratchasima, the 31st of August 2010: The controversial footage was aired on Thai television Monday, showing art teacher, Somchai Limthanmaporn caning several students at the St. Mary’s School in Thailand’s northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima. Over 40 students have since come forward complaining of Mr. Limthanmaporn’s use of corporal punishment, forcing the school to suspend him from duty.
A school administrator, Nongkran Prathumtri, stated that the school could not condone Mr. Limthanmaporn’s actions and has subsequently released him from employment with the facility. No professional sanctions have been taken against Mr. Limthanmaporn, who is not an accredited teacher with the Teacher’s Council of Thailand. Parents of the children involved have however filed complaints with police over the beatings.
“He must be responsible for his wrongdoing. There will be no protection from the school,” Miss Prathimtri stated to Thai television reporters.
In the video clip, secretly recorded by one student, Mr. Limthanmaporn uses a cane, wrapped with electrical cable, to hit the backside of several students, who were allegedly receiving the punishment over the state of their living quarters. Several pictures of scarred buttocks were shown on Thai television, evidence that Mr. Limthanmaporn had been doling out this punishment for sometime before students took action.
Thailand’s Education Ministry allows the use of verbal warnings, probation and termination by teachers were it is deemed necessary, however prohibits the use of inhumane or violent punishment, although the use of corporal punishment is not unusual in rural Thai schools.
Video footage exposing a Thai teacher caning students at a Catholic boarding school in Nakhon Ratchasima has appeared on Thai television recently. The teacher, not certified by the Teacher’s Council of Thailand, has subsequently been suspended by the school.
