Dispute over call for vote on TU political ban
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Student union vice president denies proposal was official
An assistant to the vice president of the Thammasat University Student Union has proposed that students vote to end the conflict over whether the university should open up its campus for political campaigning, including on changes to the lese majeste law.
However, the deputy president of the union said the proposal was only a personal idea of the assistant.
Thammasat University (TU) rector Somkit Lertpaithoon yesterday posted on his Facebook page a picture of a letter submitted to him by Panupong Rodthong, an assistant to the vice president of the union.
The letter was printed under the student union’s letterhead and dated February 6.
It stated that the union – Tha Phrachan Campus – had agreed that violence should be prevented, and had proposed that students vote on the issue.
Somkit added a hand-written comment to the letter, saying that he agreed it was possible but that the voting process should be undertaken by the students themselves.
However, Rakchart Wong-Arthichart, vice president of the union, posted a message on his Facebook page rebutting Panupong’s claim, saying there had been no resolution on the issue and Panupong was falsely using the organisation’s name in putting forward the idea.
“I believe that the student union still insisted its request for the university administration to revise its decision [banning campus use for political campaigning], and there had been no statement afterwards,” he said.
Rakchart said he had posted the message on Somkit’s post, but it had been deleted. He then posted the link to his own posts instead.
Panupong, nevertheless, posted on Facebook in reaction to Rakchart’s comment, saying, “The letter sent came from a proper [union] meeting and voting process. It did not come from personal opinion. We hope that you stick to democratic principles, as you have been calling for, and we propose you vote to reduce conflicts.”
In response, Rakchart then posted asking Panupong to prove the claim about the meeting, as he did not acknowledge a union meeting had made such a resolution.
Somkit’s post drew more than 144 comments and had more than 120 shares. The comments were posted on different angles of the conflict, including whether the lese majeste law should be changed, Somkit’s conduct, the student union’s conduct, and the letter itself.
Many of the comments were from Oh Wong-Arthichart.Among the comments, Supawat Sukhaparamate posted: “TU Student Union, please find agreement among yourself first, would you?”
Wilaiporn Pohthongkham posted: “Please clarify to people who don’t understand, Thammasat lecturers or students. I have a headache [am confused] now.”
Sitthisak Ponthaisong posted: “Excuse me. I have read some comments and found many people do not understand the meaning of democracy.”
TU’s executive board has drawn criticism after it decided to ban the use of its campus for campaigning to change the lese majeste law.
Somkit said earlier that the board would meet again this coming Monday to review its ban.
