A senior advisor to the Thai deputy education minister and a former school pupil was scathing about the online photos seen from the event and has vowed to establish if the school director organised the parade himself.
An elaborate ceremony for an outgoing school leader in Saraburi province has drawn fire online and from an advisor to the deputy minister of education after photos emerged showing school students lying prostrate in front of him.
The outgoing director of the respected Thai school has drawn the ire of a senior advisor to the Deputy Minister Education Minister, Khunying Kalaya Sophonpanich and a host of other critics for a pompous ceremony held on November 8th.
It was supposed to be a send-off for the top school official who had been appointed as head of another establishment in the area.
Staged ceremony occurred on November 8th
The staged ceremony which took place on November 8th at Khaeng Khoi School in Saraburi, saw students prostrate themselves in front of their outgoing principal while the official, Mr Natthanan Danupitak, was seated in front of a flagpole and at other times was seen walking along a row of students holding flags and garlands as if inspecting a guard of honour.
Sharp criticism from ministerial advisor
The sharp criticism from Mr Amorn Amornrattananon who works with the deputy minister and is himself a former student of the school came in a Facebook post. Mr Amorn described the ceremony as completely unacceptable.
The ministerial advisor is trying to establish who took the initiative in organising such an unseemly service.
Former university lecturer angry at the spectacle of students prostrating themselves
The send-off also drew fire from Dr Somkiat Osotsapha again on social media through Facebook.
The former lecturer at Chulalongkorn’s faculty of economics was livid after seeing photos of the event. Dr Somkiat was particularly incensed by the photos students laying prostrate in front of the school director.
He bitingly asked if the school director considered himself an old fashioned feudal lord.
Claims that it damaged the school’s reputation
He argued that the event had tarnished the reputation of the school and opined that Mr Natthanan should instead have used the occasion of his departure from the school to reach out to students in their classrooms.
The event should be understood in the Thai cultural context where reverence is shown both to elders and those in authority.
Mr Natthanan has had been appointed as the new director of Witthayakhom School in the Pak Phrieo area of Saraburi.
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