Petition to expel Thammasat student activist attracts 3,000 signatures

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Petition To Expel Student Activist Attracts 3,000 Signatures
By Khaosod Online



BANGKOK: -- Over 3,000 Thammasat University students and alumni have signed the petition calling for the expulsion of an outspoken student activist, Matichon has reported.

Mr. Ong-on Phu-arkard, the Thammasat alumnus who headed the expulsion campaign, explained to Matichon that the transgender activist Aum Neko has disrespected the university in many occasions.

Those offences include dressing inappropriately, using impolite words to the lecturers, and, recently, attemptingto replace the Thai national flag over Thammasat University′s administrative building with a black flag, ostensibly to protest the university rector′s biased political perspectives.

Mr. Ong-on said Ms. Aum, whose real name is Mr. Saran Chuichai, has violated other people′s rights with these actions. 3,050 students and alumni have signed the petition, he added.

The petition was accepted by Thammasat Rector Somkid Lertpaithoon, who told Matichon that Ms. Aum had displayed many inappropriate actions, such as climbing onto the statue of Mr. Pridi Banomyong, the co-plotter of the 1932 revolution which toppled the Siamese Absolute Monarchy and the founder of Thammasat University.

These repeated offences have forced the university administration to set up an investigation committee headed by Vice Rector Prinya Thaewanarumitkul to determine the punishment for Ms. Aum, Mr. Somkid said.

He added that the committee has proposed a one-year suspension as the punishment, but Ms. Aum′s family has contacted the university and asked for a one-semester suspension instead. Mr. Somkid said the decision will be announced in 1-2 weeks.

Furthermore, Mr. Somkid said another committee will also be formed to investigate the ′black flag′ incident for a separate punishment. As for the petition calling for Ms. Aum′s expulsion, Mr. Somkid said if her offences do not qualify for the expulsion described by university guidelines, she cannot be expelled.

Source: http://www.khaosod.co.th/en/view_newsonline.php?newsid=TVRNNE5qZ3lOalV4TkE9PQ==


-- Khaosod English 2013-12-13

[Emptyset]

Doubt that Pridi himself would have much time for those who've signed this petition, nor some of the hacks currently masquerading as academics. Their job should be to encourage criticial thought, not suppress it.

[Tatsujin]

Thailand is taking another huge step back to the dark ages.

[richard10365]

We gave a student a 1 year suspension at our university as well. It seems to be the most accepted form of punishment for students when they forget they don't own they university they have decided to misbehave in.

[Prbkk]

Yep, the " thought police" out in force....

[impulse]

It seems 3,000 students are there for an education.

If one student's behavior makes that uncomfortable, difficult or impossible, expulsion seems like a reasonable solution.

Has nothing to do with the "thought police". It's about 3,000 people getting what they paid for.

Edited December 13, 2013 by impulse

[MikeOboe57]

Yep, the " thought police" out in force....

What thoughts? All I can see at the moment are cheap publicity stunts by a katoey to get himself in the headlines.

Sent from my GT-N5100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Prbkk]

It seems 3,000 students are there for an education.

If one student's behavior makes that uncomfortable, difficult or impossible, expulsion seems like a reasonable solution.

Has nothing to do with the "thought police". It's about 3,000 people getting what they paid for.

Whatever she did, it has ZERO impact on other students . They are making a political statement and victimising one individual. It is a pathetic overreaction. If the other students don't agree, they can say so...no one is stopping them. However, they want to 'cleanse' the reputation of the university. Bullies, pure and simple

[GreenSnapper]

It is nice to see Thais opposing abusive "activists". I hope it will teach him a lecture.

[Emptyset]

It seems 3,000 students are there for an education.

If one student's behavior makes that uncomfortable, difficult or impossible, expulsion seems like a reasonable solution.

Has nothing to do with the "thought police". It's about 3,000 people getting what they paid for.

The signatures are students and alumni - what's the betting that it's more the sort of conservative alumni that joined Suthep's march that are signing this? I have to say I have little sympathy for any of her fellow students that signed this if they feel they're unable to study because someone posed provocatively in front of a statue. It's almost as if they've set out to confirm what Benedict Anderson said, that they are 'timid, selfish, uncultured, consumerist, and without any decent vision of the future of the country'.

What Aum's done sounds like nothing much at all compared to Thammasat in the 70s, or any university in the West for that matter. It's almost like she's singlehandedly decided to restore its reputation for democratic radicalism, although there are obviously a group of fellow radical students that converge around anti-royalist historian and former Thammasat student leader, Somsak Jeamteerasakul.

It doesn't take much to outrage some people. I met her fellow Thammasat student 'Kantoop' earlier in the year, and she was also subjected to a conservative hate campaign after speaking on the red stage a few years ago. She was shy, reserved and ultra-polite to me, hard to believe it was the same girl that people were so angry at. Aum does seem more deliberately provocative and outspoken, but if what she's done is enough to get her expelled from a supposedly 'liberal' university, then surely there's no hope...

[belg]

if expelled

he can go work straight in pattaya with the next bus

[canopus1969]

Poor dears, just as well their parents could not afford to send them to a university in the west to see the high jinks real students get up to

[diehard60]

Yep all 3000 students signed because they were threatened if they did not sign it. I have had students tell me these things happen all the time. If a teacher wants something done he or she tells the students to do it or else.

[honzad]

if expelled

he can go work straight in pattaya with the next bus

Love the bigots here. Whether you agree with she/him or not, the fact is that there is a an expression of rebellion going on, challenging the status quo that sometimes stifles Thailand. But your answer? Everyone who doesn't fit your definition of identity should work as a hooker, so you can then slag them off again, except when you're buying them.

[khunken]

For once I'm on Emptyset's side.

This is ludicrous coming from a university that is supposed to be the most politically outspoken & liberal in the country. The individual has caused no harm to other students - making an idiotic display of him/herself is not a crime. Yes, Pridi must be turning in his grave.

[FangFerang]

It seems 3,000 students are there for an education.

If one student's behavior makes that uncomfortable, difficult or impossible, expulsion seems like a reasonable solution.

Has nothing to do with the "thought police". It's about 3,000 people getting what they paid for.

Horse feathers. Bull hockey. If the west followed your 'guidelines' half of all students would be expelled. How does what the katoi did make it difficult or impossible to be educated? And about uncomfortable, maybe overcrowded bus drivers should be thrown on the tarmac while the bus is still rolling, now without a driver? Maybe anyone wearing a color that many students dislike, say puce, should be expelled? Maybe anyone who likes Coke in a Pepsi world should be drowned in their aggressive beverage? What meaningless drivel...they are being the thought police.

Freedom is also for those we dislike. Get used to it because no one is ever going to let people like you change that song. I rarely get genuinely torqued over a post, but this one of yours wins the Troll of The Week Award. Congratulations. Now go back to your legos so the adults can have a conversation.

How do your toes taste? You stuck both feet in your mouth and still had room to spare in that toothy cavern.

Resume rants.

[Puccini]

Doubt that Pridi himself would have much time for those who've signed this petition, nor some of the hacks currently masquerading as academics. Their job should be to encourage criticial thought, not suppress it.

What critical thought is a female student expressing by climbing on the statue of the university's founder and and positioning her crotch next to the statue's crotch?

[Prbkk]

Doubt that Pridi himself would have much time for those who've signed this petition, nor some of the hacks currently masquerading as academics. Their job should be to encourage criticial thought, not suppress it.

What critical thought is a female student expressing by climbing on the statue of the university's founder and and positioning her crotch next to the statue's crotch?

I think Verdi should be banned. Boring , noisy crap. I will start a petition.

[ratcatcher]

Doubt that Pridi himself would have much time for those who've signed this petition, nor some of the hacks currently masquerading as academics. Their job should be to encourage criticial thought, not suppress it.

What critical thought is a female student expressing by climbing on the statue of the university's founder and and positioning her crotch next to the statue's crotch?

I think Verdi should be banned. Boring , noisy crap. I will start a petition.

Aida think about that again if I was you Prbkk.

[ratcatcher]

Doubt that Pridi himself would have much time for those who've signed this petition, nor some of the hacks currently masquerading as academics. Their job should be to encourage criticial thought, not suppress it.

Very true, she looks pridi good to me.

[Suradit69]

Yep, the " thought police" out in force....

She isn't being prevented from thinking whatever she wants to think nor is she prevented from expressing those thoughts as long as it's done in a way that doesn't deprive others of their rights. I would assume admission to the university involved acceptance of some guidelines regarding behavior. A university should be a place where differing views are expressed, tolerated and debated, not where one individual or group takes the entire institution hostage and forces her/their ideas on everyone else.

If she feels sufficiently passionate about the importance of whatever she's promoting to violate the rules of the institution, that's fine but then she has to accept the cost. It's very noble to say you'll sacrifice yourself for the cause, but then you have to be prepared to actually make the sacrifice.

Edited December 13, 2013 by Suradit69

[Emptyset]

Doubt that Pridi himself would have much time for those who've signed this petition, nor some of the hacks currently masquerading as academics. Their job should be to encourage criticial thought, not suppress it.

What critical thought is a female student expressing by climbing on the statue of the university's founder and and positioning her crotch next to the statue's crotch?

It is a challenge to the inane reverence of a statue instead of fidelity to the man's actual ideas, which were always a threat to the status quo. The people defending this statue probably have little idea of what Pridi said or what he stood for, and I suppose that is the irony that Aum wanted to highlight with this gesture. Pridi, of course, still met and gave encouragement to radical Thai students well into his old age during his Paris exile. No one can speak for him, of course, but I think it likely he'd side with Aum here rather than those who seek to defend his image yet betray his spirit with their actions.

[spare5]

She makes farangs think that Thamasart is full of katoi. This is not true at all.

Maybe just a few of out ten of thousands student.

[khunken]

Yep, the " thought police" out in force....

She isn't being prevented from thinking whatever she wants to think nor is she prevented from expressing those thoughts as long as it's done in a way that doesn't deprive others of their rights. I would assume admission to the university involved acceptance of some guidelines regarding behavior. A university should be a place where differing views are expressed, tolerated and debated, not where one individual or group takes the entire institution hostage and forces her/their ideas on everyone else.

If she feels sufficiently passionate about the importance of whatever she's promoting to violate the rules of the institution, that's fine but then she has to accept the cost. It's very noble to say you'll sacrifice yourself for the cause, but then you have to be prepared to actually make the sacrifice.

Depriving others of their rights? They still haven't worked out what rules she/he has broken.

In a country that allows, if not promotes, lawbreaking by all sectors of society, how the hell is it justified to punish someone who has broken no identifiable rule or law?

I hope you are not a member of the 'hang 'em high' brigade.

[BeforeTigers]

So the petition was all for naught. That is awesome. Cooler, more mature heds have prevailed. Great to see that.

Send her to the States.
We like people that can think for themselves.

[well, atleast in theory. But that's another discussion]

[RubbaJohnny]

A pridi farce will get you a long way ad philatelly will get you anywhere in a topsy turvey corrupt world where students are reactionary and ignorant and peasants wise to their intolerance.

I'm sure it's all a Sturm in a Mr T cup.The T party awaits.Sad the yoof have so little to say about the injustices of inequality,squalor,poor health care just across the river fromtheir privileged campus.

[chrisrazz]

9% of students signing a petition implies that 91% are in the 'don't give a sh1t' or support baskets regarding the rebellious one. I imagine the Faculty of Political and Moral Sciences (whatever that is, it's not getting through to the movers and shakers in this country) are having a real hard time with this. Maybe it's an experiment to illustrate how a vocal minority can manufacture issues, instil prejudice and division in order to exert influence. Really, if the student has broken the rules, why is there the need for a petition, just deal with it. Surely the University is capable of deciding the best course of action without allowing what is basically an attention seeker getting just that, more attention.

[ableguy]

It seems 3,000 students are there for an education.

If one student's behavior makes that uncomfortable, difficult or impossible, expulsion seems like a reasonable solution.

Has nothing to do with the "thought police". It's about 3,000 people getting what they paid for.

Whatever she did, it has ZERO impact on other students . They are making a political statement and victimising one individual. It is a pathetic overreaction. If the other students don't agree, they can say so...no one is stopping them. However, they want to 'cleanse' the reputation of the university. Bullies, pure and simple

What Nonsense you spout a uni is no place for a publicity seeking transgender to set the rules, if he cannot comply kick him out. let the other kids concentrate on getting educated.

[penwithcris]

How very sad to see students signing petitions to have a fellow student expelled. Maybe these same students will soon be petitioning for any students supporting Pheu Thai to be expelled.

It is up to the administrators at the University to adjudicate on whether or not this student should be 'rusticated' not fellow students.

I would personally sign a petition that called for all students who blew whistles and invaded government buildings to be sent down.

Their infantile behaviour did their University no credit. No wonder Thailand's educational achievements are so woeful when compared to the rest of SE Asia.

[Tokay]

It seems 3,000 students are there for an education.

If one student's behavior makes that uncomfortable, difficult or impossible, expulsion seems like a reasonable solution.

Has nothing to do with the "thought police". It's about 3,000 people getting what they paid for.

3000 out of how many?

Saying how many oppose her without knowing how many students are there is pointless.

And I'm very curious about that 3000. Were they paid to sign the petition like locals are paid to vote?