PM scolds student activist for plan to change university’s prostration custom

[rooster59]

PM scolds student activist for plan to change university’s prostration custom

By THE NATION

 

 

STUDENT ACTIVIST Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal was admonished by the prime minister yesterday over his plan to campaign for Chulalongkorn University students to be given the choice on whether they should lie prostrate before the statue of King Chulalongkorn at an annual ceremony.

 

“I feel pity and have concern. This could tarnish the reputation of the institution,” Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha Prayut said yesterday.

Good traditions, he said, need to be preserved, as they were “charms” of the country. 

 

“Don’t abandon your past while you move forward. We should be proud of our good history and it should be preserved. We may not repeat the bad ones,” Prayut said.

 

His remarks came in a keynote speech at Mahidol University on the roles of Thai universities.

 

In response, Netiwit asked in a Facebook post yesterday: “Who is the nation’s embarrassment?” The activist said that in the eyes of young people like him, Prayut had tainted the country’s reputation for more than three years after staging the 2014 coup and restricting human rights.

 

“He should respect the rules of the country. If he has political ambitions, he should form a political party,” Netiwit wrote. “By staging the coup, he did not abide by the rules.”

 

After being elected the new president of the Student Council of Chulalongkorn University (SCCU), Netiwit said he planned to campaign for reform in the university’s hazing and seek permission to allow students to choose whether to lie prostrate or bow before King Chulalongkorn’s statue.

 

The university holds a ceremony to pay homage to the revered King before his statue at the Royal Plaza every year on King Chulalongkorn Day on October 23.

 

Netiwit, 20, who portrays himself as a progressive, has been known for his political activism and iconoclastic views since he was a high-school student. His enrolment in the conservative university’s Political Science Faculty last year surprised many people.

 

On Thursday, the bespectacled first-year student was voted by 27 out of the 36 council members to become the new president of the SCCU. It is rare for a first-year student to be elected president of the council, a position normally won by a senior student.

 

His election as SCCU president has drawn mixed reactions from the student council. While some members extended congratulations and said they looked forward to a “new Chula”, others expressed concern that he might taint the university’s reputation.

 

Last year, Netiwit declined to lie prostrate before the monuments of the university’s founders, Kings Chulalongkorn and Vajiravudh (Rama V and Rama VI). He chose instead to remain standing during a traditional oath-taking ceremony for first-year students, sparking controversy among students, alumni and outside observers.

 

He has also stirred controversy by voicing strong opposition to hazing traditions during freshmen orientation week. To mark the 40th anniversary of the student-led October 1976 pro-democracy uprising last year, Netiwit invited Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong to speak. Wong was deported less than 24 hours after arriving at Suvarnabhumi Airport, but Netiwit managed to have Wong speak to the event via Skype.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/national/30314373

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-05-06

[mtls2005]

I thought Rama V (Chulalongkhorn) abolished the Act of Prostration by Royal Decree in 1873, as primitive and oppressive?

 

I guess Prostration may have been reintroduced by military dictator Sarit Thanarat in the 1950s, although it's not clear if this reintroduction was Royally decreed?

[tomta]

 

15 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

“Don’t abandon your past while you move forward. We should be proud of our good history and it should be preserved. We may not repeat the bad ones,” Prayut said.

A week or so ago, he was saying in regards to the stolen plaque that we need to forget about history and keep movong forward. BUt I guess the plaque is bad history.

[chainarong]

All this blabbering coming from someone who isn't even elected , prostrating ones self indeed , talk about backward , Prayut should remember everyone goes to the toilet,  so everyone's equal............................................  

[debate101]

Netiwit 4 PM

[steven100]

5 minutes ago, chainarong said:

All this blabbering coming from someone who isn't even elected , prostrating ones self indeed , talk about backward , Prayut should remember everyone goes to the toilet,  so everyone's equal............................................  

just like you ... lol

[rkidlad]

17 minutes ago, chainarong said:

All this blabbering coming from someone who isn't even elected , prostrating ones self indeed , talk about backward , Prayut should remember everyone goes to the toilet,  so everyone's equal............................................  

Kim Jong Un doesn't go to the toilet. If another powerful man postures enough, maybe it can be believed that he doesn't go to the toilet also. 

[Eric Loh]

He was elected SCCU president with a whopping 27 out of 36 council members. That really show an overwhelming undergraduates sentiment towards a more progressive Thailand rather than the feudal age that Prayut is dragging the country back. That itself is worth a scolding by the students as well as the citizens. 

[SABloke]

He was elected SCCU president with a whopping 27 out of 36 council members. That really show an overwhelming undergraduates sentiment towards a more progressive Thailand rather than the feudal age that Prayut is dragging the country back. That itself is worth a scolding by the students as well as the citizens. 

It's more impressive that senior students voted for a junior. It shows that the students at Chula might be more progressive than the elders thought. :) They're throwing the whole issue of automatic age and status related subservience out the window. >_>

So let's see...is Big P willing to throw a 1st year uni student in jail? Takinh bets....

[SiamBeast]

Good traditions need to be preserved. As long as activists like that will try to abolish traditions and push progessive cancers under the name of "equality", Thai people are not ready for a democratic government, and we need Prayut to continue what he's doing.

[halloween]

1 hour ago, Eric Loh said:

He was elected SCCU president with a whopping 27 out of 36 council members. That really show an overwhelming undergraduates sentiment towards a more progressive Thailand rather than the feudal age that Prayut is dragging the country back. That itself is worth a scolding by the students as well as the citizens. 

Your assumption that the members of the student council are truly representative of the students in general suggests that you have little knowledge of university life. As a rule,most if not all of the student council members will be low effort arts degree students who aspire to a political career.  Those enrolled in more demanding courses and others trying to pay for their own education by working, are usually far too busy to be involved in student council.

[mark131v]

Not often you read about anybody openly taking on the little general and the hierarchy and actually having the <deleted> to practice what they preach, good to see and this place really does need more people like him, cannot help wondering what law they will use to close him down though....?

[JAG]

43 minutes ago, SABloke said:

 

It's more impressive that senior students voted for a junior. It shows that the students at Chula might be more progressive than the elders thought. :) They're throwing the whole issue of automatic age and status related subservience out the window. >_>

So let's see...is Big P willing to throw a 1st year uni student in jail? Takinh bets....

 

If it looks like this young man and his ideas are gaining any "traction" nationally we can expect he will go down.

[mark131v]

43 minutes ago, SiamBeast said:

Good traditions need to be preserved. As long as activists like that will try to abolish traditions and push progessive cancers under the name of "equality", Thai people are not ready for a democratic government, and we need Prayut to continue what he's doing.

Oh dear........

 

Yep the country definitely needs the little un elected hypocrite to bring them into the 21st century..... 

 

 

[mtls2005]

7 minutes ago, JAG said:

If it looks like this young man and his ideas are gaining any "traction" nationally we can expect he will go down.

 

Yes, I hope that he doesn't contract some rare blood disorder, get lead poisoning or get disappeared.

[rkidlad]

53 minutes ago, SiamBeast said:

Good traditions need to be preserved. As long as activists like that will try to abolish traditions and push progessive cancers under the name of "equality", Thai people are not ready for a democratic government, and we need Prayut to continue what he's doing.

Dear lord above us. 'Progressive cancers'

 

Two quick questions:

 

1. Are we not always learning as we go along? 

 

2. Can we learn from history?

[JAG]

2 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

 

Yes, I hope that he doesn't contract some rare blood disorder, get lead poisoning or get disappeared.

Probably drafted - or if he was in the cadets at school called for reservist training.

 

Accidents happen in training you know...

[SiamBeast]

1 minute ago, rkidlad said:

Dear lord above us. 'Progressive cancers'

 

Two quick questions:

 

1. Are we not always learning as we go along? 

 

2. Can we learn from history?

 

1) We learn something every day of our lives.

 

2) Definitely - that's how civilizations are made and evolve, as long as they keep the good parts (what's working well) and ditch the old parts. A society's primary focus should be family integrity.

[mark131v]

2 minutes ago, rkidlad said:

Dear lord above us. 'Progressive cancers'

 

Two quick questions:

 

1. Are we not always learning as we go along? 

 

2. Can we learn from history?

No!!

 

Thailand does not need any of that new fangled thinking when they have the all seeing oracle and his mythical section 44 to do the thinking for them....

[rkidlad]

1 minute ago, SiamBeast said:

 

1) We learn something every day of our lives.

 

2) Definitely - that's how civilizations are made and evolve, as long as they keep the good parts (what's working well) and ditch the old parts. A society's primary focus should be family integrity.

And who gets to decide this? 

 

A tiny group of people or an educated mass? 

 

The world's not flat. 

[dinsdale]

3 hours ago, rooster59 said:

“Don’t abandon your past while you move forward. We should be proud of our good history and it should be preserved. We may not repeat the bad ones,” Prayut said.

Like military coup d'etats and the suspension of democracy. Like a litany of historical graft and corruption at the very top of this country. 

 

3 hours ago, rooster59 said:

“Who is the nation’s embarrassment?” The activist said that in the eyes of young people like him, Prayut had tainted the country’s reputation for more than three years after staging the 2014 coup and restricting human rights.

 

“He should respect the rules of the country. If he has political ambitions, he should form a political party,” Netiwit wrote. “By staging the coup, he did not abide by the rules.”

Such blatant reason from this young man. I fear for his future. Standing up against military juntas anywhere is always dangerous as these megalomaniacs will stop at nothing to retain their power.

[dcpo]

Ironic that the 'PM' has been promoting Thailand 4.0 and the new vision for higher education this week.

[yellowboat]

Sadly the good general is ill equipped in persuasive verbal repartee.  He is shackled to telling people what to do.  He promotes customs at a university while ignoring the vandalism plaque which noted an event in Thai history.  His words do little to move society as they are autocratic and lack fairness or even kindness. 

[daveAustin]

Quote

We should be proud of our good history

Eh? If there is indeed an animal, you, sir, have tarnished it, ay what what!

Edited May 6, 2017 by daveAustin

[Bluespunk]

4 hours ago, rooster59 said:

 

“Don’t abandon your past while you move forward. We should be proud of our good history and it should be preserved. We may not repeat the bad ones,” Prayut said.

How would anyone know they are repeating bad history as it is covered up, rewritten in the manner of revisionist historians or simply forbidden as a topic of discussion? 

Edited May 6, 2017 by Bluespunk

[AGareth2]

load of krap

[Bluespunk]

1 hour ago, SiamBeast said:

Good traditions need to be preserved. As long as activists like that will try to abolish traditions and push progessive cancers under the name of "equality", Thai people are not ready for a democratic government, and we need Prayut to continue what he's doing.

Sarcasm?

[fasteddie]

I see a faint glimmer of hope for Thailand that this young man was voted for by his seniors, unfortunately I think he himself is about to get an invite from the thugs in uniform.

[fasteddie]

1 minute ago, Bluespunk said:

Sarcasm?

Or trollism?

[Bluespunk]

1 hour ago, mark131v said:

Not often you read about anybody openly taking on the little general and the hierarchy and actually having the <deleted> to practice what they preach, good to see and this place really does need more people like him, cannot help wondering what law they will use to close him down though....?

Not so much a law as an Article will be used. It's numbered between 43 and 45.