Officials have arrested a group of organized criminals whose business is selling fake degrees, diplomas and certifications through social media.
On Sunday, police in Surin and Ubon Ratchathani teamed up to arrest four suspects. They were charged with selling fake education documents online as well as colluding to falsify certificates. The charges can be punished by jail terms of six months to five years, and fines that can range between THB1,000 and THB10,000.
The suspects are: Kittiwat Charnwimolrat, 23, Juthawadee Sirisuksawad, 21, Weerapol Khamsaeng, 25, and Lalita Kaewboonrueng, 22.
They were caught with 18 false certificates, 19 copies of the official stamps of schools, bank passbooks showing that they received money from clients for the documents, and computers that they suspect were used to make the contraband.
It is alleged that Kittiwat admitted to the crime and told police about his method for making the documents. He studied how to falsify documents online and mentioned where he ordered the stamps. He also revealed that most of his customers ordered false certificates showing graduation from Mathayom 3, Mathayom 6, or the Office of the Non-formal and Informal Education.
The suspect said that he had been in the line of illegal work for two years and got 10-20 orders per month. From what police could tell from their bank books and other paperwork, the gang has made as many as 1,000 fake certificates in total, according to their accounts, reported Bangkok Post.
Prices for the fake certificates can be about THB5,000 baht for a Mathayom 3 certificate, THB7,000 for a Mathayom 6 certificate and as much as THB100,000 for a fake bachelor’s degree.
For master’s degrees, the prices start at THB100,000 and can go much higher.
As is standard in many countries, the Education Ministry is now setting up a website that will allow seekers to verify whether Thais, and foreigners who have attended Thai schools, have earned any credentials they claim. The site should allow users to verify qualification from Mathayom 3 level all the way to post-graduate work.
The point of the project is to stop the proliferation of fake degrees, the people that make them and the people that buy them.
According to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, Chaipruek Serirak, people can submit any education documents that they need verified and can get a positive or negative answer in a day or two.
