Lecturers offer to pay student bail; universities to account

Prachatai 20 March 2021

Jak Punchoopet, advisor to Thailand’s minister of higher education, science, research and innovation (MHESI), said on Tuesday 16 March that the ministry is preparing to summon deans and chancellors of the universities of eight lecturers who offered bail to three student activists detained while awaiting trial for royal defamation and other charges, reports Prachatai.

According to Matichon, the statement was made after the Vocational Students and People’s Network to Protect the Monarchy submitted a petition to Professor Anek Laothamatas, the MHESI minister, urging him to investigate the lecturers’ ethics. The network claims that their unsuccessful bail requests on 12 March for Panusaya Sitthijirawattanakul, Parit Chiwarak and Jatupat Boonpattararaksa, students at Thammasat and Mahidol universities, constitute behaviour that infringes upon the monarchy. The network’s leading figure said the action of the lecturers is unethical for teachers as they are protecting students who have clearly and publicly defamed and infringed upon the King, Queen and the Chakri dynasty, which the network has denounced.

Duangrit Benjathikul Chairungruang, the ministry spokesperson and secretary to the minister, said the ministry has prepared to appoint a committee to review the issue and is ready to be fair to every side by upholding the country’s law.
Full report on the Prachatai site

Receive email updates from UWN

Global newsletters    Africa newsletters    Other
    (other includes related events and webinars)

Data will be processed according to our standard terms & conditions.

Research focuses on production of jet fuel from halophytes

UAE University staff

With an eye to developing a clean, alternative aviation fuel to reduce carbon emissions, researchers at the United Arab Emirates University have been focusing on the production of jet fuel from sustainable resources such as halophytes, which are salt-tolerant plants that could be cultivated on a wider scale in the region’s coastal areas.

The value of being human: How teachers can work alongside AI

Michael Milligan

Artificial intelligence is now a part of our evolution in technology and teachers need to be encouraged to find ways to bring AI into the classroom and have students use it in a way that is beneficial to them in the long term.

Ground-breaking research on seawater biodesalination

UAE University staff

As water scarcity reaches critical levels globally, a research team at the United Arab Emirates University seeks to revolutionise seawater desalination practices, offering a path to mitigate water scarcity while championing environmental preservation.