Thai Authorities Raid Unlicensed Bangkok School, Detain Six Foreign Teachers

Thai education and immigration officials descended on an international school in Soi Pridi Banomyong on 29 May, finding it had been operating without a legal licence and employing six foreign teachers without work permits. According to The Nation Thailand, the joint inspection was carried out by officers from the Office of the Private Education Commission (OPEC), Immigration Division 1 and the Department of Employment under the Labour Ministry, acting on a tip-off that the school was conducting classes without authorisation.

When officials arrived, they asked school management to produce its licence to establish an educational institution. The management could not provide the paperwork. Checks on individual staff documents then revealed six foreign nationals from the Philippines and Myanmar working as teachers in different subjects, none of whom held valid work permits from the Department of Employment. The teachers were detained and taken to Khlong Tan Police Station for legal proceedings.

Scale of the operation

Initial checks indicated the school had been teaching for more than five years and had enrolled more than 100 students, all foreign nationals, from kindergarten to secondary level. According to The Thaiger, immigration police noted that similar illegal international schools had been found in several areas of the city, often operating in hard-to-access alleys, mainly accepting foreign students and employing foreign teachers without permits.

OPEC secretary-general Monthon Phaksuwan lodged a police report with investigators at Khlong Tan Police Station and warned that operating without a licence under the Private Schools Act can result in jail time and substantial fines for school owners. He urged parents to exercise caution when choosing private schools, noting that unauthorised institutions could close suddenly and that qualifications issued by unlicensed schools are not recognised by the Ministry of Education. OPEC said families can verify legally authorised private schools via school.opec.go.th.

Part of a broader crackdown

The Pridi Banomyong case is the latest in a series of enforcement actions that have gathered pace since May, when a raid on Koh Phangan uncovered an unlicensed school with 89 foreign children and dozens of unregistered workers. The Labour Ministry subsequently issued nationwide orders to provincial employment offices to begin coordinated inspections of language centres and private schools. A separate Bangkok Post report from April documented a parallel raid in Prawet district, where ten foreign nationals from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nigeria were arrested at another unlicensed school that had been operating for over a year.

For legitimate operators in Bangkok's competitive international school market, the crackdown carries a reputational dimension as well as a legal one. Authorities have been explicit that the goal is to protect the integrity of Thailand's international education sector and to ensure that licensed schools are not undercut by unregistered competitors charging lower fees without meeting minimum staffing or safety standards.