Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has urged police to speed up their probe into the group of men who injured and sexually harassed students at a school in Chom Thong district.
The men, some of whom were reportedly drunk, were apparently angered by a request from teachers to turn off their loudspeakers so as not to disturb exam takers at Bangkok's Mathayomwatsing School.
They were at an ordination ceremony at Wat Sing, a nearby temple, at the time.
"I want law enforcers involved in this to expedite the investigation to deal with this group of offenders seriously," Gen Prayut said in a Facebook post Monday.
Twelve people were injured including the director of the secondary school, teachers, other staff and students.
Some 24 suspects aged 18 to 41 are being detained for various charges including trespassing on and destruction of government property, physical assault and sexual harassment.
Arrest warrants were expected for another five or six suspects, said police.
Mathayomwatsing, which is next to a Buddhist temple on Ekachai Road in Bang Khunthian district, was organising a General Aptitude Test (GAT) and Professional and Academic Aptitude Test (PAT) when the intruders entered.
A total of 248 students were taking the tests at the time.
วินาทีแก๊งวัยรุ่นงานบวช บุกเข้าโรงเรียนถล่มการสอบ GAT PAT ทำร้ายครู-นักเรียน-รปภ. ตร.คุมได้แล้ว24คน เตรียมคุมอีก5-6คน จ่อโดนข้อหาซ่องโจร #dek62 #วัดสิงห์ #pat5 pic.twitter.com/3Lte6YRPgX
— sanon charoenpun (@Sn_Nueng) 25 February 2019
The examiners ended up giving them an additional 30 minutes to complete their exams after the intruders were cleared out.
However, as one student put it afterwards, "Who would still have been able to concentrate on their test after that?"
"If the test results come out worse than I expected, I won't be able to go to the university I want," the student added, declining to give their name.
One man hit a student with a table and then punched him while another tried to sexually assault a female student, according to witnesses.
"One man held me against a wall and kissed me," said the female student, adding she could smell alcohol on his breath.
"He told me to be his wife. I just stood there trembling," she added.
Students will be given a chance to re-sit the exam or keep their original score. Officials have given them until this Thursday to decide.
