The four ex-teachers of Nong Khai’s Bung Khlong Lhong School – Bualoy Khlongdee, 58, Amkha Phutongjai, 56, Kwanpak Phokhong, 55, and Lamai Punriboon, 54 – met with deputy permanent secretary for the Justice Ministry Pol Colonel Dusadee Arayawuth yesterday.

Dusadee said the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) was already working on the case to provide them with justice.

The four testified in the murder trial of school director Chusak Sutthasri, who was eventually acquitted in 2014. The case centred on the fatal shooting of teacher Pethai Amatrattana during a party on March 3, 2009.

Police initially arrested and charged Chusak with murder after an alleged argument at a party where alcohol beverages were consumed.

The testimony of the four teachers contributed to Chusak’s acquittal.

However, the case investigator filed charges against the four teachers in 2013 for giving false information to authorities and destroying evidence and they were each sentenced to four years in jail in 2015.

They served only 22 months as their sentences were reduced by royal pardons until their release last December.

During their time in prison, the teachers tried to appeal their sentences but their petitions were turned down.

They are now seeking a retrial to prove their innocence, with the aim of being reinstated by the Education Ministry so they can return to teaching.

The four women attended the party at the school’s infirmary when Pethai, a music teacher, was shot dead. They later disposed of alcohol bottles and glasses out of fear of disciplinary punishment for drinking alcohol at a state office.

A request by the DSI for a retrial last November was turned down on the grounds that there was not any new evidence, a source at the ministry said yesterday.

The DSI probe, which lasted for more than a year, found that a gunman was hired by an unknown person to kill Chusak but instead shot Pethai by mistake, because he wore the same colour shirt and happened to sit in Chusak’s designated spot.

Bualoy said that during their time behind bars, they taught fellow inmates an informal curriculum until graduation, which entitled them to sentence reductions.

As the Justice Ministry has begun to assist them in their case, the Education Ministry – which initially fired them from the civil service due to the criminal convictions – has changed the order, which means they are now entitled to retirement pensions, Bualoy said.

The search was conducted at 10 homes in Tambon Tha Sung of Muang district and resulted in the seizure of title deeds for land and buildings covering 801 rai in Muang and Nong Khayang districts.

One of the properties raided was the home of 47-year-old Wichai, where his ailing parents were living.

The operation, part of a Justice Ministry crackdown on influential figures to reduce social inequity, was conducted as Deputy Permanent Secretary for Justice Pol Colonel Dusadee Arayawuth headed a “war room” at head office to closely follow the raids and instruct officers to collect evidence thoroughly.

As some local people had told officers that Wichai’s son had a resort in Uthai Thani, the officers planned to conduct a search there later.

Wichai’s alleged loan-shark gang reportedly has a revolving fund of Bt4 billion, a network of 2,000 moneylenders and 86 franchise branches lending money to around 170,000 borrowers who were charged up to 250 per cent annual interest. Borrowers falling behind with repayments were reportedly harassed by “helmet gang” debt collectors.

It is also suspected that the gang operates a similar loan-shark business operation in Cambodia.

In December, the DSI impounded the gang’s assets worth Bt150 million, followed by another batch of |assets worth Bt42 million in mid-January.

Wichai remains at large after he took a trip abroad with his family and failed to return and give himself up as promised to authorities.

Dusadee said that Wichai, who is wanted for racketeering, operating an illegal loan business, and collecting loan interest beyond the legal rate, had contacted authorities and offered to surrender, but only on condition that he would be granted bail.

Around 1,000 state officials allegedly involved with the gang are also being investigated.

The school said the measure was necessary to prevent the virus from spreading. It also advised pupils to immediately see doctors if they fall ill and not to come to school until they fully recover.

Piyasakol said Bangkok in the past week had seen many school pupils suffering from influenza and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration was working closely with the Disease Control Department to monitor and prevent the disease. He also urged people to close their mouths and noses when coughing or sneezing or use facemasks.

He also instructed patients to avoided crowded places and ask for leave from school or workplaces until fully recovered.

Meanwhile, the Disease Control Department’s Bureau of Emerging Infectious Diseases director Dr Woraya Luang-on said there had been an influenza outbreak in city areas, with patients found in clusters, as the virus was transmitted via the respiratory system.

She praised the school’s decision to suspend classes as the disease could spread faster among students in a school situation than in adults.

In January, there were 4,875 reported cases of flu in Thailand, mostly affecting patients under the age of 14, Public Health Minister Dr Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn said yesterday.

The ministry estimates the number of cases in Thailand will be more than 300,000 this year.

But with few resources, the only cremation they can undertake is to put the bodies of those who pass away on a pile of old tyres and light a fire.

“Without the tyres, you would need to use a significant amount of coal – in other words cash,” a 29-year-old woman at the shelter said. “As we live off donations, we have to keep it simple where we can.”

She does not mind if one day her body is cremated in the same way.

“When I came here, I knew it was going to be my place of death anyway,” she said. “It’s just that for as long as I stay healthy enough, I will take care of those who have been in poorer health.”

This is a harsh reality that all 38 residents at Ban Ruam Namjai at the Sri Mongkhontham Forest Monastery have come to terms with. But the news caused a few tears when their story went “viral” on the Internet recently.

Early this month, a Facebook user posted the story on social media in the hope of raising donations for the small shelter, so that life is not too hard for residents at Ban Ruam Namjai.

And now donations have started to flow in.

A former abbot of Sri Mongkhontham Forest Monastery, Phra Khru Kittiyarak, set up the shelter in 1995 to extending a helping hand to people living with HIV.

All residents at the shelter have no family to return to. It is not that family members have passed away, just that their families have ignored them.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a resident recounted that her parents had separated and both had remarried.

Disoriented and lonely, she started living a reckless life from a very young age. By the time she reached 14 years old, she tested positive to HIV. Without any moral support and proper counselling, she continued living a risky life and failed to get proper medical treatment. At the age of 20, her health worsened to the point that she could not live independently anymore.

She applied for help at a temple, but ended up at Ban Ruam Namjai.

“I feel I am useful here. There are not too many rules either,” she said.

Ban Ruam Namjai sits in a cemetery zone, just opposite Sri Mongkhontham Forest Monastery.

When Phra Khru Kittiyarak was alive, he helped the shelter a lot. But after his passing in 2014, residents have had to fend largely for themselves. While locals have given donations and accepted the current residents, they have made it clear that the shelter must not take in any more people.

Village head Sao Chanchamni has handled management of the shelter in place of the late monk.

Dr Annop Rattanawannachai, director of Sri Somdej Hospital, said his hospital had treated residents of Ban Ruam Namjai, including a migrant from Myanmar.

“I have been trying to provide advice too so that they can live a relatively healthy life,” he said.

One of the doctor’s key warnings is not to engage in unprotected sex, as that could aggravate HIV infections and cause other health problems.