Thai students in UK snub Phongthep
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A GROUP of Thai students at Oxford University in England has turned down an invitation to have lunch with Deputy Prime Minister Phongthep Thepkanjana, because of his support for the Amnesty Bill that "violated and contravened the constitution".
The students sent a letter to Phongthep, signed by Duangnapa Kovanich and Thaya Uthayaphas. They had been invited by the Office of Educational Affairs (UK) to have lunch with Phongthep on Saturday.
Their letter said: “Dear Mr Phongthep Thepkanjana, Deputy Prime Minister, Thai students at the University of Oxford who oppose the Amnesty Bill do not welcome your visit to Oxford. We consider the government’s conduct during the deliberations of the bill as well as its specific contents … violate and contravene both the 2007 Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand and the constitutional monarchy form of our democracy.”
The government, including Phong-thep and Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, had failed to show remorse for any injustice, it said. “Therefore, we… do not wish to have any involvement with your coming visit to Oxford – an involvement which could be interpreted as lending support for the government and the bill,” said the letter.
