Sarasas Witaed Ratchaphruek School faces court action after school executives refused to attend a meeting on Tuesday to negotiate a 130-million-baht compensation claim from parents of children abused by teachers at the school.
The lawyer representing the 20 parents revealed the school’s decision not to adhere to the legally binding order by the Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) to discuss compensation before wasting time and money and settling on a figure in court.
Deputy spokesman for the OAG, Prayut Petchakhun, told media that the school had sent a letter on Friday indicating it would not negotiate amid reports that the parents were collectively set to demand 130 million baht.
Despite no school representative being present, the meeting went ahead between parents and the OAG which said it would organise counselling for each child and the school would be obliged to foot the bill.
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Afterwards, Ronnarong Kaewpetch, the lawyer representing the parents, told media that the 130 million baht demand was justified.
The lawyer said, “Doctors are unable to say how much damage has been done and how long the psychological trauma will take to heal.”
One of the parents, who asked not to be named, said his son was still exhibiting behavioural abnormalities.
“He has begun self-harming and tries to hide every time he hears a loud noise. He also becomes angry very easily now,” said the parent, adding that the compensation of approximately 5 million baht per family could be very little compared to the long-term costs of dealing with the fallout from the abuse.
Sarasas Witaed Ratchaphruek School has faced multiple lawsuits after CCTV footage emerged of a kindergarten teacher roughly disciplining pupils as young as three.
The Criminal court last week handed out jail terms to a number of staff at the school including Ornuma “Kru Jum” Plodprong, the teacher shown in the videos.
The Education Ministry has also filed a suit against the school for hiring teachers without licences.
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