Bangkok – The Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau has arrested a woman accused of helping a former police general cheat on an exam at Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Law.
Police took Kanittha Lertbanjerdwong into custody on Wednesday in Bang Bon, Bangkok, after the Bangkok South Criminal Court issued a warrant the day before. Authorities allege she got hold of an exam paper before the test and passed it to the former police general, who was taking an evening class at the faculty of Law in 2023.
Pol Maj Gen Siriwat Dipho, chief of the Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD), said the investigation is impartial and not targeting the former police general. Officers began looking into the case after finding hints of an exam leak on a phone seized in connection with an online gambling investigation.
Pol Maj Gen Siriwat stressed that everyone found guilty will face consequences, no matter their position.
The phone was taken during a wider probe into an online gambling group. It included evidence tied to the leaked exam, like a photo of 53-year-old Kanittha Lertbanjerdwong.
Relationship with an exam supervisor
Investigators also uncovered chat messages about getting the exam paper, sending it to someone else to complete for the ex-police general, and then returning the finished answers for him to copy.
Although Kanittha did not work at the university, she had a close relationship with an exam supervisor. She allegedly used this connection to access and take the test paper when the supervisor was distracted.
Kanittha faces charges under Section 188 of the Criminal Code for taking, damaging, or hiding an important document. This offence can mean up to five years in jail and a fine of up to 100,000 baht.
More evidence came from computers seized in 2023 at a property linked to the online gambling ring. Pol Maj Gen Siriwat declined to name the former police general.
Kanittha allegedly earned over 900,000 baht for her part in the scheme — more than 400,000 baht through mule accounts, and another 500,000 baht from accounts connected to illegal gambling.
After her arrest, two men, Khrit Pariyaket and Chanon Aum-thon, turned themselves in. They are assistants to the former police general and own the seized computers.
Exam Cheating in Thailand
Cheating on exams is a big problem in Thailand and is common across different levels of education. It ranges from simple copying to organised scams, and both social and systemic issues make it worse.
In 2017, nearly 350 people were caught up in a cheating case. University students in medicine, engineering, and science were paid 20,000–30,000 baht each to help police exam takers by writing answers in large print for others to copy.
In 2016, three women at Rangsit University got caught using glasses with hidden cameras to take pictures of test papers and smartwatches to get answers during medical and dental school entrance exams. The cheating ring relied on outside helpers who received the exam questions and sent back answers through the smartwatches.
The university responded by cancelling the test, blacklisting the students, and rescheduling the exams. The students had paid 800,000 baht (about US$23,000) for “guaranteed admittance” packages from private tutoring businesses.
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