Plans are under way to relocate classes from Rajamangala University of Technology Tawan-ok’s Uthenthawai Campus in Bangkok’s Pathumwan district to Samut Prakan province following a series of clashes with students from another nearby institution.
Pheu Thai Party spokesman Suksit Srichomkwan said Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation Minister Yodchanan Wongsawat will inspect a potential site at the Department of Skill Development in Samut Prakan’s Bang Phli district on Thursday.
Yodchanan is also scheduled to chair a meeting with senior campus officials to discuss the relocation, Suksit said.
The move follows Yodchanan’s order to suspend on-site classes at the campus after the latest incident, in which two students from the Pathumwan Institute of Technology were stabbed during a confrontation with Uthenthawai students at BTS Siam station earlier this month.
The incident occurred despite a police deployment intended to prevent clashes.
The campus has been ordered by a court to return the site to Chulalongkorn University. Yodchanan has stressed that the campus must comply with the court order, a move that would separate the two rival institutions, which are only about a kilometre apart.
The long-running rivalry between the two institutions has repeatedly resulted in violent confrontations.
Suksit said Uthenthawai students are currently attending online classes at facilities provided by the ministry.
He stressed that the main objective is to reduce tensions between the two institutions while maintaining the quality and standards of education.
He said Bang Phli is only one of three or four options being considered.
Uthenthawai, which is part of Rajamangala University of Technology Tawan-ok, also has a campus at Chakrabongse Bhuvanarth, which could be used as an alternative.
Asked whether local residents should be consulted about the proposed relocation, Suksit said all sides would have to be heard.
He said the building to be inspected in Bang Phli already has the necessary infrastructure, equipment and laboratories, making it a potentially suitable option.
He stressed, though, that it is only one option and will have to be discussed with the institution before any decision is made.
