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BANGKOK -- Bloggers in Thailand remain unconvinced of the authenticity of an academic degree that a Thai Cabinet minister supposedly obtained from a little-known college in the Philippines.
Trying to beat a Thai newspaper report that he only finished secondary school, Sutha Chansaeng, the Thai minister of social development and human security, claimed to have a bachelor’s degree in commerce from the Republican College in Quezon City.
Besides the Thai constitutional requirement that Cabinet members must possess at least a bachelor’s degree, the issue became controversial for Chansaeng, 48, because he had never before claimed to having possessed the degree in official documents.
It has also since been discovered that Chansaeng was issued a passport for the first time only in 1994, a decade after he was supposed to have graduated from the Republican College.
The Republican College has confirmed to the Inquirer that Chansaeng indeed graduated from the school in 1984 and that his records included a Special Order and Certificate of Authentication and Verification issued by the Commission on Higher Education to graduates of any course.
Numerous blogs in Thailand have come out with photos of Chansaeng’s records from the college, including his transcript of records and recommendation for graduation, which one blogger said were shown to him by a staff member at the registrar’s office of Republican College.
The blog www.oknation.net/blog/thaibaan, posted by a Thai with the pen name “siewthaibaan,” pointed out that the word “Republican” had been misspelled and appeared as “Rupublucan” in the transcript.
The blogger also asked why the date on the recommendation for graduation submitted to the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) was dated Jan. 10, 2008, when Changsaeng was supposed to have graduated 24 years before.
The Thai media have challenged the minister to produce solid proof, such as a diploma or pictures showing him while attending college, or even to name some of his more prominent Filipino classmates to end the controversy.
According to Thai newspaper reports, Chansaeng has not issued any new statement regarding his educational background since his arrival recently from a foreign trip.
However, the Thai Embassy in Manila, in a statement sent to the Philippine Daily Inquirer Friday, said that Chansaeng’s representatives have presented official documents to support claim to having obtained academic credentials in the Philippines.
According to the statement, based on the documents, Chansaeng was admitted to Republican College in June 1980, with entry credentials from the Assumption Thonburi School and Janpradit Tharamwithyakon, two educational institutions in Thailand.
He graduated with a bachelor of science degree in commerce, major in management in March 1984.
The statement said this was supported by an official transcript of records and diploma issued by the college and covered by Special Order 50-340113-0012 Series 2008, issued by CHEd.
Another document was a certification issued by the CHEd’s National Capital Region office, through Gretchen G. Cordero, education supervisor II, saying that Republican College was a duly recognized private higher educational institution in the Philippines with official campus address at 4-43 18th Avenue, Cubao, Quezon City, Philippines.
The document also stated that the entries appearing in the transcript of records and diploma were authentic copies and the signatures were those of the college president and other school authorities.
These documents -- the transcript and diploma as well as the signatures of the college officials -- were issued an authentication certificate (SN 07-236019) by the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila, dated Jan. 17, 2008, the Thai Embassy statement said.
Chansaeng has explained that he could not make a claim about his degree from the Philippines earlier because the college had not yet been certified by the Philippine Civil Service Commission at the time he graduated.
In his campaign flyers when he ran for the Bangkok City council in 1985, Chansaeng stated his maximum education qualification as Grade 12, although in last year’s general elections, one flyer listed an “Advanced Diploma and Certificate in Logistics and Transport” among his qualifications.
Chansaeng, a first-time minister, has been a politician for more than 20 years, according to a Thai newspaper report. He was a two-time city councilor and was elected member of parliament four times since 1992. Between 2002 and 2004, he was an executive of the defunct Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. He is currently an executive member of the ruling People Power Party, which is thought to be a proxy group for the TRT. Asia News Network
