Ruengsak said that out of nearly 100,000 applicants who sat the exams, 161 had exactly the same total scores, individual scores and the amount of right and wrong answers.

When they were asked to retake the exam, the results varied widely, he said.

Some 54 suspects later said that some "outsiders" had taken the exams in Police Regions 8 and 9, then rushed out and text-messaged the answers, he said.

A committee will check whether exam officials were involved, and invite outside experts to join the probe, Ruengsak said.

No-show in Klong Dan trial

Bangkok's Dusit Court trying a case of alleged corruption in the construction of the Klong Dan wastewater treatment plant in Samut Prakan yesterday issued an arrest warrant for former Pollution Control Department (PCD) chief Pakit Kirawanich.

Pakit was supposed to testify about the contract between the department and the NVPSKG consortium yesterday morning, but failed to show up.

The court has set April 24 for the trial to continue.

Loans, subsidies for students

The government is offering two types of student loans this year.

One is a soft loan to students from poor families and the other is an income-contingent loan open to all and subject to interest equivalent to the inflation rate.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet has approved Bt2.96 billion for the Education Ministry to provide 14 years of free state schooling. Schools will receive an annual subsidy of Bt1,700 per kindergarten student, Bt1,900 per primary student, Bt3,500 per junior secondary student and Bt3,800 per senior secondary student.

Daily Xpress