Thailand’s Education Ministry has ordered local authorities to investigate if there are Burmese-language learning centers operating illegally in their provinces after it found six such centers in Surat Thani and ordered their closure.
A complaint was submitted to the Education Ministry after a clip of students singing the national anthems of Thailand and Myanmar during a school assembly at the Myinttar Yeink Bang Kung Learning Center in the southern province went viral.
The learning center was found to be operating illegally at the property that used to belong to the now-defunct Bang Kung Technological College in tambon Bang Kung of Surat Thani’s Muang district. Following the complaint, Education Minister Police General Permpoon Chidchob and the ministry’s Permanent Secretary Suthep Kaengsanthia ordered the authorities in all provinces to search for any similar learning centers.
According to Surat Thani Deputy Governor Sukont Noopakdee, the center was opened without official permission a while ago. He said it continued to operate even after the Surat Thani Provincial Education Office ordered its closure in 2022, adding that 1,250 Myanmar students are currently registered at this academy.
The provincial education office has requested that Muang Surat Thani Provincial Police track down those operating it, adding that authorities in Surat Thani would form a task force to oversee the matter and ensure the facility does not reopen.
He added that all six Burmese-language learning centers in the province, including the Myinttar Yeink learning center and five others located in the Po Wai community, the Wat Som Wang Wanaram community, Muang district, Khiri Ratthanikhom district, Don Sak district and Koh Phangan, have been shut down.
Government agencies are reportedly going to look into the work permits and residency statuses of staff connected to the academy.
Labor Protection Network (LPN) director Sompong Srakaew opposed the Education Ministry’s move to close down the learning centers, saying the government should provide migrant children from Myanmar shelter and protection as their homes are being hit by an internal conflict.
This story first appeared in The Bangkok Post.
