Viral exam-room claim proven false as original poster apologises
Social media claims that students were made to leave cash and personal belongings outside an exam hall were later proven false, with the original poster issuing a public apology after admitting the images were from an unrelated incident.
An online controversy erupted after Facebook user Chiratchai Pawiwaranon posted images appearing to show students leaving cash, watches, jewellery, stationery and cosmetics on the ground because such items were not allowed into the examination hall.
Triam Udom Suksa School was subsequently drawn into criticism over the appropriateness of the restrictions, which had in fact been announced in advance as part of anti-cheating measures.
The entrance examination for the 2026 academic year was held at IMPACT Muang Thong Thani in Nonthaburi on March 7. A total of 13,895 applicants sat the exam, the highest number recorded in the past 18 years, although the school is accepting only 1,520 students.
On Tuesday (March 10), Chiratchai issued a clarification and apology via the Facebook account “Domm Subb”. In the statement, he offered a deep apology to all parties concerned, including the examination organisers, the school director, teachers, administrators, as well as current students and alumni of Triam Udom Suksa School.
He explained that the images had been sent to him by the mother of a relative who had spent the day waiting for her child to sit the exam.
As a parent, he said, he became concerned that some students might have had to travel back to their accommodation on their own, with no parent there to collect them and possibly without mobile phones to contact their families, prompting him to share the images out of concern.
However, Chiratchai insisted that he had no intention of causing harm. He said that if the post had affected the reputation or feelings of those involved, he would like to offer his sincere apology.
At the same time, the Facebook page “Why Did It Fail?” reshared the post and provided additional information, saying that after a fact-check, it was found that the incident involving children allegedly piling up money as though discarding rubbish had never actually occurred at Triam Udom Suksa School’s examination venue.
The misunderstanding stemmed from a parent who had received the images from another school in a different province. It was an entirely separate incident, but the parent mistakenly believed the images were from their own child’s examination venue and posted them out of confusion and concern.
After learning that the information was incorrect, the original poster deleted the post and later apologised on his personal Facebook account. However, because the story had already spread rapidly through media outlets and various online pages, it grew into a major issue and triggered scrutiny within both the school and the examination system.
The final investigation confirmed that the incident had never taken place at Triam Udom Suksa School’s examination venue. Although the original poster later apologised, the criticism and misunderstanding had already damaged the reputation of both the examination committee and the school.
Some media outlets have also yet to fully correct the information, leaving many people still believing that the incident really happened.
