Vocational schools, parents meet Thai police to try to stop student brawls

[webfact]

Vocational schools, parents meet police to try to stop student brawls
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- TWO hundred vocational school and parent representatives have met with Bangkok police to address the long-running issue of student brawls.

Discussed at the meeting last week was the "Different College but Same Colour" project, which aims to adjust students' attitudes towards fighting.

Lt-General Sanit Mahatha-vorn, acting Metropolitan Police chief, said the causes of the brawls needed to be found and that required the collaboration of every relevant party, such as the colleges, parents and students.

An attempt to find a peaceful resolution to the problem will be tried first because obviously young people can change for the better. If that does not work, the law will be seriously enforced.

"The brawl leaders will be gathered at the same place for three days and two nights so that they can reach an understanding after talking," he said.

Student representatives have said the main cause of the brawls was senior students who grow up in bad cultures one generation to the next.

They said there were two types of senior students - good ones who are a positive influence on junior students and those who carry weapons.

They do not believe the problem can be solved although it could be mitigated.

The students suggested that everyone should wear jackets when outside school so rival |colleges cannot pinpoint them, and colleges should install closed circuit television cameras.

The government sector was also urged to continue to deal with offenders decisively. One idea was to make each school's finishing time different, if possible.

The director of the Minburi Polytechnic College of Technology, a vocational school graduate, said he was ashamed about incidents in which many students had died. He wants to see more money injected into tackling the issue.

Parents said bad seniors led many juniors astray so measures needed to be in place to help the younger students deal with |pressure from such sources.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Vocational-schools-parents-meet-police-to-try-to-s-30273963.html


-- The Nation 2015-11-30

[NongKhaiKid]

I don't want to get involved in too much stereotyping but from my own experience when teaching in years gone by I found Thai parents were reluctant to take responsibility for anything other than sending their children to school and everything after that was up to the school authorities.

Sending the children out on school days was job done and if they were truants it was up to the school to do something about it.

It seems far too many Thai parents are wrapped up in their own lives and don't worry too much where their children are at any given time or what they'r getting up to. i wonder how many bother with the good old fashioned " and where have you been to this time ? " senario much beloved of my dear old wee maw !

[kannot]

round em all up surround them with a fence so they cant get out, give em all guns and let them shoot each other to death, last man standing is the winner, then open the gate let him out and shoot him dead, repeat as necessary...no im serious

[jaltsc]

"Lt-General Sanit Mahatha-vorn, acting Metropolitan Police chief, said the causes of the brawls needed to be found and that required the collaboration of every relevant party, such as the colleges, parents and students."

He doesn't have a clue, does he? He is looking for the cause of a specific type of event, while these brawls are simply another symptom of a culture in which its members refuse to take responsibility for many of their actions in the name of personal and family honor.

Eliminate the concept of "saving face" and the the resulting retaliatory acts which arise from it, and....problem solved. Something that's not going to happen any time soon, if ever.

[EnzoRippo]

"He wants to see more money injected into tackling the issue." How money can help?

"The brawl leaders will be gathered at the same place for three days and two nights so that they can reach an understanding after talking," Why 3 days and 2 nights, specially? Why not as long as needed?

"wear a jacket outside" by 30°C?

It looks like this meeting was not very serious.

[slapout]

How many times do you have to tell some of the authorities of actions that could and should be taken in dealing with the "gang leaders" /members, and they do nothing. These discussions have been going for several years and nothing has been done that seems to have worked. It seems apparent to some of us that nothing has been done nor changed in approaching the problems.

Either lead, follow, but do something other than talk about collaboration for pity sakes.

[Chang_paarp]

Call in the military, they can use their Attitude Adjustment techniques or just conscript them.

[thesetat2013]

"Lt-General Sanit Mahatha-vorn, acting Metropolitan Police chief, said the causes of the brawls needed to be found and that required the collaboration of every relevant party, such as the colleges, parents and students."

He doesn't have a clue, does he? He is looking for the cause of a specific type of event, while these brawls are simply another symptom of a culture in which its members refuse to take responsibility for many of their actions in the name of personal and family honor.

Eliminate the concept of "saving face" and the the resulting retaliatory acts which arise from it, and....problem solved. Something that's not going to happen any time soon, if ever.

This has nothing to do with personal and family. This is all about rivalry with the schools. It happens everywhere in the world. Only, in Thailand the teachers are egging it on as well and because everyone feels they are beyond being punished and don't have to accept responsibility for their actions gives these students all they need to do whatever they want to. Since thais cannot fight alone and need their friends help it just makes what is happening even more bad. When they are equalled weapons are brought in. They should force the schools to kick such students out and instill some responsibility for others to learn by it. Banning them from all colleges for a few years also.

[gandalf12]

"Lt-General Sanit Mahatha-vorn, acting Metropolitan Police chief, said the causes of the brawls needed to be found and that required the collaboration of every relevant party, such as the colleges, parents and students."

He doesn't have a clue, does he? He is looking for the cause of a specific type of event, while these brawls are simply another symptom of a culture in which its members refuse to take responsibility for many of their actions in the name of personal and family honor.

Eliminate the concept of "saving face" and the the resulting retaliatory acts which arise from it, and....problem solved. Something that's not going to happen any time soon, if ever.

This has nothing to do with personal and family. This is all about rivalry with the schools. It happens everywhere in the world. Only, in Thailand the teachers are egging it on as well and because everyone feels they are beyond being punished and don't have to accept responsibility for their actions gives these students all they need to do whatever they want to. Since thais cannot fight alone and need their friends help it just makes what is happening even more bad. When they are equalled weapons are brought in. They should force the schools to kick such students out and instill some responsibility for others to learn by it. Banning them from all colleges for a few years also.

12 months in a boot camp were strict discipline is enforced with the incentive of 24 months if they are caught again acting like thugs

[klauskunkel]

An attempt to find a peaceful resolution to the problem will be tried first because obviously young people can change for the better. If that does not work, the law will be seriously enforced.

"The brawl leaders will be gathered at the same place for three days and two nights so that they can reach an understanding after talking,"

I saw headlines of these student brawls/killings already 10 years ago, and every year since. The police always claimed the above quote as the "standard solution".

I am sure that many problems in this country can be solved if Thai police would only wear loose fitting uniforms, as the tight ones restrict blood flow to the brain. Once that handicap is removed I feel quite confident in the ability of the BiB to "think outside the pants", and come up with working solutions. Even the Lt-General acting Metropolitan Police Chief may then remember the time when he was a mere corporal (5 years ago) when they retried, or claimed to retry the same old, tired quick fix.

[FloridaExport]

An attempt to find a peaceful resolution to the problem will be tried first because obviously young people can change for the better. If that does not work, the law will be seriously enforced.

If laws were seriously enforced, we might see a change. Why the reluctance?

[ChrisY1]

Singapore has corporal punishment......it works!.....very rarely are there repeat offenders.

[Siamwhiteelephant]

Now we know why there are so many murderers and other violent offenders in this society, and of their school backgrounds. Loss of enforced discipline at school, the moronic 'no-one fail policy', and other factors choking out the chance for a good learning environment exacerbate the problem. This obviously is a very deep societal problem stemming from their home upbringing .......lack of parents' 'tough love', 'accountability', moral values, etc, etc???.

[bangon04]

"They said there were two types of senior students - good ones who are a positive influence on junior students and those who carry weapons.

They do not believe the problem can be solved although it could be mitigated."

Any minute now the US gun lobby will be along to say that if all technical college kids in Thailand had the right to bring their own assault rifles to school, then the problem would be solved.......

[gandalf12]

"They said there were two types of senior students - good ones who are a positive influence on junior students and those who carry weapons.

They do not believe the problem can be solved although it could be mitigated."

Any minute now the US gun lobby will be along to say that if all technical college kids in Thailand had the right to bring their own assault rifles to school, then the problem would be solved.......

They would but they are bloody idiots