Family chides officials after schoolboy billed for municipality leave allowance
A Mahasarakham family was shocked to receive a letter from the Tambon Yang Talad Municipality Office in Kalasin province demanding more than Bt8,000 for leave allowance reimbursements linked to their Mathayom 5 son, prompting them to file a police claim.
An investigation revealed that the outstanding debt was actually linked to another unidentified man with a similar name as the teenager.
Subin Khongpheth, his wife Saengduan Muangsaen and their teenage son met with Tambon Yang Talad Mayor Kriangkrai Phumlaochaeng on Wednesday to demand an explanation of the November 29 letter, which they received on Saturday, that ordered the boy to pay Bt8,232 to the municipality’s finance division within 15 days.
The family insisted that the boy was not involved in the debt, and indeed could not have been paid a leave allowance because he was enrolled in school.
Kriangkrai told the family that the case involved a misunderstanding regarding the similar name, as the letter was meant for municipality staff who had been inappropriately reimbursed with allowances worth Bt18,798 from 2011 to 2014. One of five officials had the same first name as the schoolboy while his last name was written slightly differently but pronounced the same.
Officials apologised to the family verbally and said they would issue a written apology later and settle the case with police.
The family also urged state agencies to check carefully before sending out letters that could cause normal people such as themselves to worry.