The progressive student has been dismissed from the position of student council president for staging a symbolic protest during a university initiation ceremony. He faces suspension in another ongoing investigation.
On 31 August 2017, Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal, a progressive student from Chulalongkorn University (CU), posted on his Facebook page a university order that removes he and four other students from the student council.
The other four students are Thorntep Maneecharoen, Suphalak Bumroongkit, Tattep Ruangprapaikitseree and Shinawatra Ngamlamai. The university cut their student behavior points by 25, making them ineligible to hold any political positions.
But CU’s disciplinary action against Netiwit is far from over. He still faces an additional charge for using university premises without permission when he hosted a public hearing at the Student Council office to receive complaints and requests about a CU commercial development project. If his student behavior points are demoted by 15 or more, he will be suspended for one semester.
Netiwit told Prachatai that he is saddened by the dismissal, since he has been serving in office for only 3 months. Being dismissed only two weeks into the semester, there remain many things he hoped to achieve, such as working on gender equality, improving student healthcare and the livelihood of communities around the university.
“I feel sorry for both the university and other CU students because it could be difficult to find someone who is serious and interested in these issues,” said Netiwit.
He vows to appeal the case and hopes that the university will be fair and open-minded.
Nitiwit leads other student activists in the walkout from the university initiation ceremony (Photo from Netiwit’s Facebook account)