CHONBURI — When a 5-year-old kindergartener swore at his friend for stealing his pencil box, his teacher walked over to him and slapped him so hard his lips cracked and bled, according to the child’s mother.
The mom, Waraporn Prathetsena, 35, later went to Bansattahip School to discuss the incident, but she told the media that the school director responded with veiled threats.
“The director said they don’t want me to go to the police because it would damage the school. Then they mentioned that I have another daughter in Matthayom 2 who goes here, like they were threatening me,” Waraporn, 35, told reporters.
Unfazed, she visited Sattahip Police Station on Wednesday to file a police report. Police Maj. Tanat Sripraman said that he would see if the teacher in question, a “Kru Tuk,” could be summoned for questioning.
“Kru Tuk went too far. Even slapping on the hand or legs is fine, but not the lips like this,” Waraporn said.
The boy, 5, said he swore at his classmate, saying “You ass!” (Ai sud, ไอ้สัตว์). The teacher allegedly rushed to him in a fury, struck him in the face, and did nothing when the boy’s lips bled. He was forced to sit out from P.E. class and was unable to eat lunch that day.
Waraporn said the school director did not allow her to meet the teacher in question.
A public school for students from kindergarten through Matthayom 3, Bansattahip School’s website lists Kanchana Tewasaranyadit as school director.
Violence in schools, even kindergarten, are common enough to make the news from time to time. In November, a kindergarten teacher in northern Bangkok was sentenced to six months in jail after viral CCTV clips showed her slapping and abusing students.
The scandal soon uncovered a string of abuse allegations at other schools under the same management.