AIT issues are in process of resolution
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Re: "Put the needs of AIT first", Letters, May 22.
As I have been involved in supporting our beloved alma-mater by serving the AIT Alumni Association (Thailand) for 29 years, I have enough information to point out that the following statements in the letter are absolutely untrue:
1) “There are now calls to undo the AIT as an inter-governmental organisation, to return to the former model.”
2) “The government has temporarily frozen its AIT grant because of the efforts to, again, change the institute’s status, in fact to take a step backwards.”
3) “The grant freeze must be caused by understandable confusion when faced with the current coup attempt.”
4) “The current freeze is put on because the intergovernmental organisation (IO) status initiative was taken while another political party was in power.”
These statements sound like they have stemmed from Mr Nordlander’s own imagination, with the last one very much insulting to Thai politics.
The fact is that the Office of Higher Education Commission (OHEC) under the Ministry of Education states clearly in its recent letters to AIT that, as the AIT president has announced its IO status effective from January 30 and Thailand has not become a member under the new AIT Charter, it would be a breach of the regulations for OHEC to sign off on funding to AIT.
The other fact is about Thailand not having become a member, because the government needs parliamentary approval before it can ratify the new charter. It is known that Parliament has a lot of other matters of national interest to take care of. AIT has to wait in line.
It is true, as reflected in the recent letter from the Foreign Ministry to AIT, that the parliamentary process is temporarily on hold pending investigations. But even if it were not so, it would not have been through by now anyway, and the fund withholding as notified by OHEC would have unavoidably occurred.
The organisations concerned, including the AIT Alumni Associations, have been actively trying to help solve the problem. The latest news I have heard is that OHEC has called for a consultation meeting to try to find a lawful way for the funding support.
Thanin Bumrungsap
President, AIT Alumni Association (Thailand)
