Govt Pushes Asian Institute Of Technology Leadership To Respect Thai Law

[webfact]

Govt pushes AIT leadership to respect Thai law

SAOWANEE NIMPANPAYOONWONG

THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- Several government agencies have pressured the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), which has the status of an international intergovernmental organisation, to abide by Thai law or to operate under its old charter at least until Parliament agrees to approve its new charter.

AIT finds itself in a crisis, because, while it is located in Thailand, its new charter has not won ratification from Thai Parliament. Without parliamentary approval, its new graduates and students are worried that their degrees may not be officially recognised.

"The Foreign Affairs Ministry, the Council of State and the Cabinet have already made it clear that as AIT sits in Thailand, it must respect Thai laws," AIT vice president Worasak Kanok-Nukulchai said yesterday.

He was speaking after the House Committee on Foreign Affairs summoned him over the AIT crisis. According to Worasak, the House committee told him that AIT is subject to Thai law.

Worasak said AIT president Said Irandoust believed international law was more important.

"Someone has to convince [irandoust]," Worasak said. "I am not in a position to do so."

Several AIT students and alumni have called on the Foreign Affairs Ministry for help.

Worasak believed the best way forward was for AIT's old board, which comprised 33 members, to convene a meeting to resolve the crisis.

If more than half of the board members showed up, it would have the authority to draw up a solution and resolve the impasse.

Chawalit Chantararat, a board member and also the chairman of the AIT Alumni (International) Association, said it was not possible to convene a board meeting amid intense lobbying by various factions. "Only nine members showed up for the meeting I tried to convene to approve the degrees for new graduates," he said. "That doesn't work."

Chawalit believed the Foreign Ministry should help more by encouraging the board members, who are foreign envoys, to attend the meeting. "Some of them have refused to show up because someone spread false rumours that such a meeting would be illegal. The Foreign Affairs Ministry should clear up the misunderstanding," he said.

Pawat Traipattanakul, a former president of the AIT Student Federation, said some AIT students were set to graduate in mid-December, and he hoped the crisis would be resolved before then.

-- The Nation 2012-11-08

[jaltsc]

And...Who is the government going to use as an example for respecting the the law?

[noitom]

And...Who is the government going to use as an example for respecting the the law?

They sure aren't using hit and run car cases that result in death.

[LuckyLew]

AIT will start respecting Thai law as soon as the Thai Gov't start respecting Thai law

[MunterHunter]

Red Policy: Do as i say, not as i do.

[patjem]

"We don't respect our own laws, but we expect you to abide them"

Time to move the campus to another country, as a suitable response, then.

[MaxLee]

In other words they're telling the Internationsl community, "accept our unethical corruption practice", in order to save face.

[jerrysteve]

It is only possible to Respect the Law when there is a Rule of Law. It is only possible to Respect the Law when the Law Makers Respect the Law. It is only possible to Respect the Law when the People of Make The Law Respect themselves. It is only possbile to Respect the Law when Judges no long Take Money and Turn Their heads away from Justice. Lets see them go after Taksin in handcuffs and face his crimes. Lets see convicted murders by a court of law, get bail and walk free. Lets see the Law Makers Lead by Example and FOLLOW the Same Rules.

Edited November 8, 2012 by jerrysteve

[Suradit69]

Lets see the Law Makers Lead by Example and FOLLOW the Same Rules.

And if all the righteous, respect-the-law "visitors" to Thailand practiced what they preached, Pattaya would be a ghost town and Patpong a prayer center.

Edited November 8, 2012 by Suradit69

[asiawatcher]

Surely this would have been a priority in the agenda before AIT started issuing degrees? If not then the 33 board members must have been sleeping through their meetings.

[Dap]

It is only possible to Respect the Law when there is a Rule of Law. It is only possible to Respect the Law when the Law Makers Respect the Law. It is only possible to Respect the Law when the People of Make The Law Respect themselves. It is only possbile to Respect the Law when Judges no long Take Money and Turn Their heads away from Justice. Lets see them go after Taksin in handcuffs and face his crimes. Lets see convicted murders by a court of law, get bail and walk free. Lets see the Law Makers Lead by Example and FOLLOW the Same Rules.

But if they wait for this scenario to occur, the graduating students may be receiving their diploma's and degree's posthumously.

Edited November 8, 2012 by Dap

[rubl]

The government push in preparing for ASEAN 2015 is truly impressive and amazingly well thought of and out

[Thai at Heart]

After plenty of stories about this, what exactly did they change in the charter?

[rubl]

From wiki

"The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kingdom of Thailand, H.E. Mr. Kasit Piromya presided over the signing and adoption ceremony of the New AIT Charter on August 25, 2010.

...

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam has also signed and ratified the AIT Charter, becoming the first ASEAN country to do so."

http://en.wikipedia....e_of_Technology

The AIT has it's website at http://www.ait.ac.th/

[rubl]

From 2012-11-02

"Ratify AIT charter, president tells govt

To end the problem concerning the legal status of Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), its council and president want the government to ratify the school's new charter.

Meanwhile, a Foreign Ministry source suggested AIT should solve its internal problems with its students first before working with the ministry.

"AIT is not the reason for the existing legal problem," Prof Said Irandoust, who has been AIT's president for about seven years, said in an interview with Krungthep Turakij TV."

http://www.nationmul...t-30193518.html

[Thai at Heart]

From wiki

"The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kingdom of Thailand, H.E. Mr. Kasit Piromya presided over the signing and adoption ceremony of the New AIT Charter on August 25, 2010.

...

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam has also signed and ratified the AIT Charter, becoming the first ASEAN country to do so."

http://en.wikipedia....e_of_Technology

The AIT has it's website at http://www.ait.ac.th/

Read the articles, and still none the wiser to what was actually changed.

BANGKOK: -- Several government agencies have pressured the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), which has the status of an international intergovernmental organisation

This much we know. What does it want to become?