Land of opportunity

The outcry about a top student of Cambodian nationality being arrested at his school in a northeastern border province last week reminds us that the government's “Education for All” policy is not truly enforced or understood by law enforcers.

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The case has drawn criticism after a video of the boy being escorted to Bua Chet Police Station in Surin province after morning assembly, while still in his school uniform, was shared by one of his teachers, Sophon Jongboriboon, and subsequently went viral.

The clip also showed the boy changing into normal attire and then hugging Mr Sophon at the police station and crying, before he and his mother were transported to a checkpoint in Sa Kaeo province to await deportation to Cambodia.

Teachers at the school reportedly chipped in money to help the woman pay for the paperwork needed to reenter Thailand.

The boy, 13, is described as an ace student who had lived with his Thai father-in-law for almost a decade in Thailand and studied at a Thai school.