Students ‘won’t curb’ parade satire

The annual parade is a highlight of the annual match between the prestigious Chulalongkorn and Thammasat universities. This year’s event – the 72nd since it was first held in 1945 – takes place today.
Since the 2014 coup and after student activists from both universities have played a critical role against the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), there have been efforts by the ruling regime, through executives of both universities, to screen the content of the satirical parade.
The parade features banners with satirical messages and papier-mache caricatures lampooning political figures.
Lattapon Yimlamai, the leader of Thammasat University’s political satire club, said yesterday that the university’s executives had sought the club’s cooperation to not target individuals or organisations. 
The executives wanted the parade to be constructive rather than critical, he said.
“There have been no direct orders to ban some content. But I have heard that the university’s executives had expressed concern over some issues such as the watch and diamond ring scandal,” said Lattapon, who is a junior political science student. 
He was apparently referring to the scandal affecting Deputy Premier and Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan. Lattapon said that he would rather that people watched the satire and decided for themselves whether the content this year was less harsh than usual, given the current atmosphere.
“But anything everyone expects to see, they will see,” he said.
Students responsible for a similar parade from the Chulalongkorn side, said that the perceived right-leaning university had no such a thing as a “political satire parade” but rather it had a “social issue” parade.
Requesting anonymity, the student said that the university executives had made it clear they did not want politics as part of the show. 
But since this year’s parade was the responsibility of political science students, they had negotiated to have one of the three parade figures address political issues, she said.

Plea to avoid ‘scandal’
“The figure, of course, was wearing a watch and a diamond ring. But the draft was screened by the executives and we were asked to remove them,” she said.
The student said the watch and the diamond ring were taboo in the parades of both universities. 
“I think the NCPO may have discussed that with both universities and so we have received similar notes to not touch the scandal,” she said.
A notice appearing to have originated with Chulalongkorn University was circulated online yesterday, banning any activities that deviated from football or were against the law.
The notice instructed students to be mindful of the university’s reputation and any impact unfavourable activities could bring and to follow strictly the orders of teachers. In previous years, student members of the Chulalongkorn Community for the People (CCP) have held up banners with political messages condemning the coup and demanding the release of lese majeste prisoners such as Somyot Prueksakasemsuk.
Assoc Professor Orapan Poachanukoon, Thammasat University’s vice rector in charge of student affairs, maintained yesterday that the university has never restricted the students’ freedom of expression.
She rejected a report that Thammasat’s executives asked its students to avoid lampooning a particular political issue and a particular government leader in their parade, after a request from the military.
“That report is untrue,” Orapan said in a statement.
“As long as the juvenile power is expressed within the legal limit and for the public interest, all their expressions should be protected. This is part of a long tradition and the spirit of the Thammasat community that we have upheld and believed in,” she said.
Meanwhile, NCPO spokesman Maj-General Piyapong Klinpan denied any role in banning political content in the parade.
He said the military was well aware of the political satire in the show and was not irritated. The content would be screened by the university committees anyway, he added.
The military only offered security service for the event, Piyapong said.
Another NCPO spokesman, Colonel Winthai Suvaree, said it was common for the military to seek cooperation from the universities and asked that the parade be constructive.
Head of the National Human Rights Commission, What Tingsmith, said yesterday the satirical parade was not a political movement and would have no impact on the government.
Whether or not any restriction in the parade would be a violation of rights and freedom, was an issue that needed to be noted, he said.