A freshman at Kasetsart University's Si Racha campus in Chon Buri has suffered a critical lung infection after senior students twice ordered him to wash himself in a large pond in an alleged hazing ceremony that has drawn heavy criticism online.
The incident was exposed on Facebook on Saturday by user Nan Suratchawadee. She posted a message criticising senior students for using a nonconstructive hazing ceremony. However, an executive of the university later denied the incident was a hazing ritual.
The Facebook user's message read: “Who were the senior students that ordered my cousin to go wash himself in a waste treatment pond on Sept 9? This caused him to drown. He was later taken from the pond after a second attempt to find him. He is now in a critical condition, suffering from a serious lung infection. He is still unconscious at an intensive care unit. Will any senior friends take responsible for his life?"
Nan Suratchawadee said the freshman started drowning shortly after going to the pond for a second time under the orders of senior students. Other students twice went looking for him before they were able to drag his body from the pond. He was rushed to Chon Buri Hospital and is on a ventilator due to a serious lung infection.
The student was identified as Chokchai “Boss’’ Thongnuakhao, 19, a first-year student at Kasetsart University’s Faculty of International Maritime Studies at the Si Racha campus.
The parents of the student are believed to be travelling up from the South to file a complaint with police, Thai media reports said.
The plight of the freshman went viral online and sparked outrage from many netizens. Disgruntled online users asked the university to order a probe into the matter and punish those involved in violent hazing rituals.
Another Facebook user Pook Sukonta Berthebaud posted a message to condemn the university for letting students undergo such a barbaric hazing ritual.
An executive of Kasetsart University said on Sunday that the university would take responsibility for the incident and insisted it was not hazing, but part of a training course for maritime studies students. The pond was used to store rainwater, not for waste treatment.
Korchoke Chanthawarangkul, deputy rector of the Si Racha campus, said the university, lecturers and students expressed regret over the incident, Thai media reported.
He said the student was undergoing workshop training of the faculty that prepared students before they underwent a maritime training course. The training was supervised by lecturers and seniors who had already undergone the workshop, Mr Korchoke said.
The training session was held at a large pond the size of a basketball field.
Mr Chokchai is now under the close care of a team of doctors, he said.
A large pond inside Kasetsart University Si Racha Campus where the incident took place. (Photo taken from university lecturer Weerachai Phutdhawong Facebook page)