University rectors 'sided with coup'
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A group of 100 Thammasat University alumni yesterday gathered at the university's auditorium to read a statement protesting against a previous rector and his successor for siding with the 2006 coup.
The group, led by 1968 graduate Sayan Suthamsamai, said Surapol Nittikraipot and his successor Somkit Lertpaithoon failed to uphold the university’s spirit of democracy.
Sayan said Surapol supported the coup and had allowed soldiers to deploy inside the university before cracking down on protesters at Rajdamnoen Avenue.
Somkit, who helped write the coup-sponsored charter, had made a grave mistake by putting the university’s founder Pridi Banomyong in the same category as military dictators like Sarit Thanarat and Thanom Kittikachorn and should therefore be removed from his position as rector, he said.
