School head accused of collecting extra salaries

Chonnikarn Nakpradab and Chatyupa Senpin file a complaint with police, accusing Boonyuen Phetkhong (inset) of using their names to obtain salaries at the school she heads in Nakhon Si Thammarat. (Photo by Nujaree Raekrun)

NAKHON SI THAMMARAT: Two women have accused a school director of using their names to collect salaries from the school even though they did not teach there.

The complaint filed with police names Boonyuen Phetkhong, director of Wat Kuttikhantipalapirom Songkhor School in Muang district of this southern province. It was filed by Chonnikarn Nakpradab, 58, a former teacher at a private school in Muang district, and Chatyupa Senpin, 33, a teacher at a private school in Chalerm Prakiat district.

Earlier, Phra Samut Somporn Pariyano, acting abbot of Wat Kutti, which supervises the school, refused to sign his name to approve the payments for Ms Chonnikarn and Ms Chatyupa as submitted by Ms Boonyuen.

The acting abbot found that the two women, whose names appeared on a list of teaching staff, had not taught at the school.

The school director later told a committee investigating the school that the women had worked there and received salaries like other staff.

Ms Chonnikarn said she did do some work at the school, but only for 15 days, and was paid 4,500 baht. She later found that her name was still on the list of teaching staff receiving payments until the end of this semester.

She told police that Ms Boonyuen had tried to persuade her to be present at the school during weekdays without doing any teaching. The school director had offered to give her 15,000 baht if she agreed to tell the temple that she was employed as a teacher, she said.

She declined the offer. However, she found out that her name remained on the payroll.

Ms Chatyupa said her name was also used by Ms Boonyuen to obtain salaries. Ms Boonyuen had approached her to teach at the school, but she could not accept the offer as she was still employed at the private school.