Somkit Lertpaithoon was about to enter his office inside Thammasat University's prestigious Dome building last Monday when he was stopped by a group of students.
SIGNS OF DISCONTENT: Far left, a protest banner was strung up at Thammasat's Tha Prachan campus. Left, notes were left in the TU Rangsit auditorium questioning the rector's dual roles.
They identified themselves as the League of Liberal Thammasat for Democracy, or LLTD, and presented Mr Somkit, the university's rector, with an envelope. Inside was a letter, demanding that Mr Somkit clarify his appointment to the military-picked National Legislative Assembly (NLA) and hold a public discussion so that he could explain directly with students.
Mr Somkit received the letter, read it and mounted the stairs to his office without giving any response.
It was the latest in a long list of signs that discontent is brewing inside Thammasat University, as critics accuse the rector of getting too close to the military regime and threatening the reputation of the university.
Somkit Lertpaithoon, Thammasat's student protest
A week before the LLTD handed the letter to Mr Somkit, several handwritten notes were posted on a notice board at Thammasat's Rangsit campus. "Thammasat University has always maintained a role in paving the path to democracy in this country, and in so doing we apply our academic expertise to intervene during non-democratic periods. Today, Somkit Lertpaithoon destroys this principle," the notes read.
On the same day, Mr Somkit was approached by reporters at Parliament House as he prepared to join in the NLA's discussion on the budget bill. "If anybody had any questions, they should reveal themselves or come to meet me directly," he said.
The next day, a new handwritten note was posted on the same Thammasat notice board. It read: "Challenge accepted."
CONFLICTING INTERESTS
The appointment of Mr Somkit — who also served as a member of the 2007 constitution drafting committee after the coup that overthrew the Thaksin administration — as well as Thammasat's University Council president Noranit Setabutr, to the NLA has raised many eyebrows among past and present students and academics.
The university has a long history of opposing military dictatorship, and many have pointed to a conflict of interest when academia and politics overlap. Some also feel the reputation of the university will be put at stake if its executives are used to justify political actions, particularly in the case of the NLA which is viewed as little more than a rubber stamp for the junta.
Yukti Mukdawijit, a Thammasat faculty member who is currently serving as a visiting assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Department of Anthropology, recently wrote an open letter to Mr Somkit and Mr Noranit, criticising their appointment to the NLA. In email correspondence with Spectrum, Mr Yukti said their political positions contradict their status as academics.
"Students and academics of Thammasat are currently being harassed for opposing the junta. Their rights have been violated," he said. "The appointment of Thammasat executives to the NLA is not helpful in securing the rights of its own members. Rather, Mr Somkit and Mr Noranit's resignation from Thammasat would help secure the university's reputation.
"A university has a duty to uphold free speech and free thought, and it has to instil that among students, even under military rule. It has to guarantee its people the right of expression."
MAKING DEMANDS: A student representative presents a protest letter to Mr Somkit.
But Mr Somkit is not alone — there are eight other rectors from leading universities across the country who have taken up roles in the NLA. They include the rectors of Chiang Mai, Chulalongkorn, Kasetsart and Mahidol universities.
The NLA is currently setting up working groups to tackle reform in several key areas. Six of the groups will be headed by rectors and experts in the academic field, including the political reform working group, headed by Mr Somkit.
Ramkhamhaeng University rector Surapol Ratchapantharak will lead the reform group on power decentralisation. Thammasat's vice-rector, Udom Rat-ammarit, is heading the judicial reform group.
Director of Mahidol University's Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies, Gothom Arya, will lead the corruption reform committee, while education reform is being led by Srinakharinwirot University vice-president Pansiri Phansuwan.
So far, voices of dissent have been silenced at all universities except Thammasat.
REBEL WITH A CAUSE
SERVING NOTICE: Messages opposing Thammasat rector Somkit Lertpaithoon and his appointment to the NLA were posted on the university notice board.
Contrary to the atmosphere outside their university confine, Thammasat students have been vocal on the topic of their executives' appointment to the NLA. Several student groups have staged anti-coup protests since the military seized power on May 22, demanding the preservation of free speech and human rights, at least on the campus grounds.
Rangsiman Rome, a senior at Thammasat's Faculty of Law, spoke to Spectrum about the recent activities of the LLTD. He confirmed that the group had been behind the anti-Somkit posters at the Rangsit campus earlier this month.
"The removal of the posters happened so quickly that they were only up for a few hours. We posted signs during last year's PDRC protest and in 2011 when Thammasat banned Article 112 [lese majeste] related activities on campus and on many other occasions, but this is the first time the posters were removed. The university's executives are less tolerant this time."
Mr Rangsiman stressed that his attack on Mr Somkit is not personal. Indeed he has a lot of respect for the rector as a person as he is a very accessible figure on campus.
"We are not focusing on Mr Somkit's motives for serving in the NLA, but anybody in his position who makes that decision is subjected to scrutiny," he said.
"I think the Thammasat community needs to be a part of his [Mr Somkit's] decision-making. If the community is against it, he should take responsibility.
"The university itself should maintain its academic goals and continue educating society and nourishing the country's human resources. It should not get involved in political power plays."
Referring to the LLTD letter calling for Mr Somkit to clarify his NLA appointment, Mr Rangsiman said: "Now, many students want to meet him to discuss this issue with him. It can be a public parley as we feel that his appointment in the NLA affects the university greatly. We feel he is using his position to serve the junta."
A HISTORY OF ACTIVISM
'RUBBER STAMP': Several university rectors are members of the National Legislative Assembly, pictured here posing for a group photo last week.
Sapa Na Dome is another prominent group pressing political and justice issues on campus. The group was founded in 1969 and its members have included prominent scholars, activists and politicians. Among the more prominent members were political scientist and poet Seksan Prasertkul, former human rights commissioner Jarun Dithapichai and academic Thanet Apornsuwan.
The group ceased activities after 1976 — the year of the Thammasat University massacre — as large numbers of university students fled Bangkok to join the Communist Party of Thailand in remote bases along the border with Laos.
However, in June last year, Sirawit "New" Serithiwat, 22, a senior at Thammasat's Faculty of Political Science, revived the group. Since then, he has organised several protests — including presenting a funeral wreath to Mr Somkit as he was sworn in to the NLA early this month, and participating in the viral ice-bucket challenge on Aug 21 in which he called for the rector to donate his entire NLA salary to charity.
"I believe that around 30-40% of Thammasat students disagree with their rector serving in the NLA," Mr Sirawit said. "He has to split his time between there [Parliament House] and here [Thammasat], resulting in his failure to properly handle his executive post, apart from the fact that his political position is not in line with the university's principle."
While some Thammasat students are willing to openly oppose the military regime, for others the junta's suppression tactics have had a chilling effect.
Piyarat "Toto" Chongthep, 23, a law student at Thammasat and a member of the Thai Student Centre of Democracy, explained that his group was abstaining from all protest activities for the time being. The decision came after he and the other nine members of the group were taken into custody by the military when they gathered for a "sandwich break" at Siam Paragon Shopping Centre on June 22. In the wake of the coup, the military deemed these sandwich-eating protests a threat to public order.
While in custody, the students met 1st Army Commander Paiboon Khumchaya, who explained to them the "necessity" of the coup and called for them to wait until a new charter is in place before they could organise any politically-related activities.
Despite stepping back from anti-coup activism, Mr Piyarat continues to coordinate with other student groups to provide support for students who have been charged or taken into custody by the junta.
YOUNG VOICES
Somkit Lertpaithoon.
On a visit to the Thammasat campuses at Tha Prachan and Rangsit, Spectrum met several first-year students who, in their first week, looked wide-eyed in their new surroundings.
Punnapa, a freshman at the Thammasat Business School, said a student's priority was to study, not to protest.
"I disagree with the signs being posted attacking the rector. I don't think it's the student's job to do it."
A second-year student from Thammasat Business School, who declined to be named, felt differently. He said that by having the rector serving in the NLA, the school risks losing its legitimacy and its ability to criticise politics impartially. He predicted calls for Mr Somkit's resignation would escalate.
"I think it's totally inappropriate for the rector to serve in the NLA," the student said. "It shows he does not respect the university's history in opposing military regimes. I don't think that students' activities to oppose him will fade; they are more likely to continue and grow more intense."
Parinya Thewanarumitkul, Thammasat's vice-rector for student affairs, supported the students' right to make their opinions known.
"It does not break any rules at Thammasat for students to disagree with the university's executives," he said. "We never feel we have to discipline them in a patronising way because we treat our students as mature human beings who can think for themselves. Similarly, Mr Somkit has not asked me to do anything differently [since his NLA appointment].
"However, since the coup and under the current martial law, I have advised students to observe the boundaries of martial law, including the ban on gatherings of five people or more. I told student activists not to challenge authorities directly, because that would only get them arrested and would not achieve anything.
"Now that the interim charter is in place, Article 4 guarantees people's democratic rights and freedoms, therefore the general restriction on free speech should ease in education institutions and in broader society."
On the evening of June 22, Mr Parinya said he went to the Army Club on Vibhavadi Rangsit Road to negotiate with Gen Paiboon, who was in charge of the detention of Mr Piyarat and his friends. He eventually secured the release of the 10 students.
SURROUNDED BY SILENCE
The atmosphere in other universities, however, is not so accommodating of dissent. Mr Rangsiman from the LLTD said student activities related to politics are now banned in other universities. He told Spectrum that he received information about a senior student at a public university in the Hua Mak area of Bangkok who threatened to shoot a junior if he continued with his public criticism of the military.
"The leader of the network in that university wanted to organise an event relating to politics, but was told that if he did, he would be shot. Other universities have a far more threatening atmosphere towards student activists than Thammasat."
A source inside the Thammasat University Student Union said students at other universities risk being expelled if they try to criticise their university executives.
However, the source does not expect the opposition against Mr Somkit to escalate to the point where he is forced to resign. He noted that Mr Somkit has a strong personal relationship with many of the students, and that this was not the first time he has come under attack.
"Mr Somkit is very accessible. If we want to meet him, we don't have to go through his secretary or anything. The students are welcome to criticise him, which is different from other places," the student union source said. "Every time Mr Somkit has been criticised on campus, he has just smiled and never retaliated."
Responding to his critics in the earlier week, Mr Somkit said he was appointed to the NLA because he is the rector — had his critics been rectors they would have been chosen too.
The response caused a stir among commentators who contrasted Mr Somkit's appointment with the junta pressing charges against Thammasat law professor Worachet Pakirat for failing to report to the NCPO. They said it struck a clear contrast between those who do and do not support the coup.
In 2011, a year after he took up the rectorship at Thammasat, Mr Somkit responded to critics who accused him of advocating military rule. He posted on his Facebook page that Pridi Banomyong, the founder of Thammasat University, was also involved with the military in staging the 1932 Revolution which abolished absolute monarchy. In response, Pridi's daughter, Dusdi, said Mr Somkit was gravely mistaken, noting that her father lived most of his life in exile as a victim of military oppression. Mr Somkit later retracted his statement.
Spectrum contacted both Mr Somkit and Mr Noranit for comment, but received no response from either of them. n