Teacher Confiscates Phone and Demands 10,000 Baht Ransom, Claims It's School Policy; Police Negotiations Fail, Student Withdraws
A Narathiwat student withdrew from his Bangkok school after a teacher confiscated his phone and demanded 10,000 baht to return it, claiming school policy allowed confiscation. Police mediation failed when the teacher refused to return the d
A male student decided to withdraw from school after a teacher confiscated his mobile phone and demanded 10,000 baht to return it, claiming it was school policy. Police attempted mediation but the teacher refused to budge.
On May 14, 2025, the Facebook page 'Jam Moy v+' posted about a student forced to leave school after his phone was seized. The student, nicknamed Boy from Narathiwat province, was studying in Bangkok when he accidentally answered a call on April 20, 2025, revealing he had a phone despite the school's strict no-phone policy. On April 27, the teacher confiscated the device from his locker. When the student explained he wanted to send it home and had already obtained his mother's address, the teacher insisted that his mother come explain in person.
At 4 p.m., the student borrowed an adult's phone to notify his mother. Worried, he went to his uncle's house on Ramkhamhaeng 53 for help in resolving the matter at school. When the uncle arrived at school to negotiate, the teacher's only response was 'How much will you pay?' The uncle suggested 1,500 baht, but the teacher questioned the student again, and negotiations reached a dead end with no payment made.
On April 30, the student's mother decided to withdraw him from school immediately and contacted the teacher's wife, asking for the phone back. The wife responded that according to school rules, confiscated phones are not returned—they must be 'repurchased.' Three days later, when the grandmother tried negotiating with the teacher, he quoted a price of 10,000 baht to return the phone.
The mother and grandmother felt exploited since the iPhone 15 was still being paid off in installments and had only recently been purchased. They viewed this as theft and filed a police complaint. Police called the teacher to negotiate and warned that confiscating, selling, or profiting from the phone would be illegal. The teacher insisted he would not return it. After eight rounds of negotiations—with the grandmother attempting twice and police intervening—the teacher told police he would sell the phone and return the money instead. Police firmly stated that was unacceptable; the phone must be returned as is.
