Parents and students have filed complaints against a private language institute after a Chinese-language course in Chongqing was disrupted days before departure, leaving dozens seeking refunds and claiming losses of more than 1.13 million baht.
Eleven representatives from a group of more than 50 affected people went to the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) complaint centre yesterday, October 12, to meet Consumer Protection Police Division investigators.
One complainant, identified only as A, said she had signed up after seeing the institute advertise a short Chinese-language course in Chongqing scheduled for October 10 to 24.
Participants were charged between 30,000 and 50,000 baht per family.
As the departure date approached, parents said they had still not received flight tickets or invitation letters needed for the trip.
On October 8, the institute informed participants that the programme would instead run from October 12 to 26 and also changed the destination university at short notice.
A Thai coordinator later shared a statement from a Chongqing vocational college denying involvement in the programme. The college also said it had not received the required student documents or payments from the institute.
The participants then split into two groups. Some went ahead with the trip because they had already received flight tickets, while others asked for refunds.
Those seeking their money back said they were later unable to contact the institute. They alleged that communication channels were blocked, some members were removed from the institute’s Line group and its Facebook page became hidden.
Nearly 80 people had been in the institute’s Line group, and participants later began contacting one another directly. Around 50 said they no longer wanted to travel and instead wanted refunds.
The Chinese travel page Luijeen also published allegations that the institute had engaged in similar behaviour for about two years.
The page claimed that the institute had previously organised Chinese-language competitions offering prizes of between 5,000 and 20,000 baht to attract students from schools across the country, but failed to pay some winners.
So far, 29 people have gathered evidence and filed online police reports or complaints with the Office of the Consumer Protection Board.
Their claimed combined losses exceed 1.13 million baht, with payment records showing transfers into an account held in the name of the language institute.
Those affected range from students aged 15 and above to adults who had planned to study Chinese in China.
The complainants said they remained unable to contact the institute and went to the Consumer Protection Police Division because they were concerned their earlier online complaints would not progress.
Investigators questioned the representatives and are compiling the information for senior officers to consider the next steps.
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