Junta is not amused by student mockery of regime

A traditional university event that gives students rein to light-heartedly criticise politicians is the latest target of Thailand’s military government crackdown on criticism of the regime.

Amid a climate of heavy media censorship and a ban on the expression of political views in public and on campuses, a student parade that traditionally includes light-hearted, colourful floats that lampoon political figures and that has for decades been part of an inter-university annual soccer match, has this year attracted particular attention from the authorities and the public.

Dozens of plainclothes police officers entered the football stadium in Bangkok on 8 February, where the soccer match took place. The match has been held annually for the past 70 years between the capital’s two main universities, Chulalongkorn and Thammasat.

The police snatched away banners with political content but students managed to evade controls on the larger-than-life floats by camouflaging the real messages.

The police have claimed political slogans would cause social disorder and obstruct the work of the National Council for Peace and Order, or NCPO, the formal name of the military junta which came to power after a coup d’etat in May 2014.

Sunday’s incident is thought to be the first time the parade, which attracts a large audience of students and alumni within the stadium and is televised live on national television, has been censored by the authorities.

Prior warning

One of the highlights of the event is a parade of floats, mainly made of paper mache, with work beginning three months ahead of the event. In the past, the floats on bamboo struts held aloft by students have featured caricatures of officials or tableaux criticising the government, tackling social issues and other public concerns of the day.

Prior to the event, orders from the NCPO were circulated to the universities, asking for ‘cooperation’ from students not to make the political satire parade too critical.

The circular said this would disrupt the work of the NCPO “in bringing about reconciliation”.

NCPO spokesman Colonel Winthai Suvaree told local media just days before the event that the junta did not intend to censor the students’ tradition of political mockery but wanted to prevent anything that could lead to “unpleasant consequences”.

Despite a reported agreement with the military that certain words would be avoided on the banners, the student who organised the Thammasat University floats said they would go ahead with the finished floats and banners.

Wachiravit Kongkarai, president of the Political Satire Parade Club of Thammasat University, told University World News high-ranking police officers had requested that all the floats and banners be inspected before being allowed into the stadium.

The authorities let the floats in after students explained they were about social and foreign issues, such as ISIS or Islamic State. However, most of the 40 banners were seized.

“Banners may be more expressive than the floats; that’s why they seized the banners but did not prohibit the floats,” Wachiravit said.

Political messages revealed

Once inside the stadium, the students revealed political messages which until then had been hidden. They included a tableau mocking the Prime Minister, General Prayuth Chan-ocha and his one-man TV show, which has been aired weekly since the military came to power.

One float, which initially appeared to illustrate the teaching of the ‘12 Thai Values’ devised by General Prayuth, turned out to be a blackboard showing the word “democracy” struck out with a red line.

Another featured an effigy that initially appeared to be an ISIS member hidden by a Muslim veil. Once inside the stadium the veil was removed to reveal a mock-up of General Prayuth.

The university match is also known for huge coordinated flashcard displays in the stands. According to local reports, this year one of the displays read: “We want democracy. When will you return it to us?”

Meanwhile, above the grandstand hung two banners stating, “Down with Dictatorship” and “Coup = Corruption”.

Banners removed

The police took them down quickly. A group called Chulalongkorn Community for the People claimed responsibility for the banners.

“We have to act to defend our beliefs,” Natthisa Patthamaphonphong, a member of the group from Chulalongkorn University, told University World News. “Academic freedom is already severely limited. This is the space we can [use to] express our thoughts freely.

“I believe there will be more students who will speak out as long as the military regime does not return the power to the people,” she said, noting that students had to smuggle the banners into the stadium quickly while avoiding police and military officers, causing two students to be injured.

A number of media outlets published pictures of the event but blurred out the banner messages.

Parinya Tewanarumitkul, associate dean for student affairs at Thammasat University, told the news outlet Matichon Online that he would take responsibility if the authorities took any action against the students, as he had approved the parade and allowed it to go ahead.

Also on Sunday, two banners with similar messages condemning the military dictatorship were hung on an overhead walkway near Burapha University in Chonburi province, a two-hour drive from Bangkok.

A student from an activist group Luk Chao Ban, or Children of the Commoners, at Burapha University said military and police authorities and university administrators had summoned him for questioning about the banners.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said police officers searched the student dormitory without any warrants.

“Such action was a threat to our freedom and safety in the absence of democracy. We would like to condemn such action and our university to let such harassment happen,” the group said in a statement posted on its Facebook page.