Students arrive for China trip to find no flight tickets booked

Several students from three prestigious Bangkok schools traveled to China for a study program, only to discover upon arrival that no flight tickets had been booked for them. The matter came to light on October 16, when the parents of the affected students contacted the Suvarnabhumi Airport Police Station. The organizers of the program had claimed that they had secured the students' travel arrangements, but this proved to be a false promise.

The incident occurred despite the program being backed by a memorandum of understanding with Xi’an Jiaotong University in China. Each of the 45 students who enrolled had paid 39,900 baht, amounting to a total of 1,795,500 baht (approximately US$56,100) into the hands of a teacher who assisted in organizing the trip. Initially, the organizer had informed the families that the trip would be held in Beijing due to the dormitory in Xi’an being unable to accommodate the group.

However, upon arrival at Suvarnabhumi Airport on October 15, students were informed that there were no tickets in place for their planned Thai Vietjet flight. Despite the organizer's subsequent agreement to refund all participants, the promised refunds have not been received as expected. At least one school has received its full refund, another has been given only a partial reimbursement, and the third school remains without any refund at all.