Thammasat U alumni group urges ban of September 19th rally on campus

(FILES) In this file photo taken on August 10, 2020, protesters flash the “Hunger Games” salute during a pro-democracy rally at Thammasat University in Pathum Thani, north of Bangkok. – The kingdom has seen a decades-long spin-cycle of coups and violent street protests led by pro or anti-establishment veterans with well-funded backing.

A group of Thammasat University alumni, led by outspoken former lecturer Kaewsan Atipothi, has voiced strong objection to the use of the university’s Tha Prachan campus for the holding of a protest on September 19th, claiming that it may lead to violence, as was seen in the “Black May” incident.

On Friday, the group asked the university council and the administrators to forbid the protest from being held on the university’s grounds, claiming that the organizers want to use it to stage the rally to avoid breaching the law on public gatherings.

The group also noted that the protest leaders’ plan to move out of Tha Prachan campus, if it becomes overcrowded, would risk a possibly violent confrontation with their opponents.
The group plans to meet with the university’s administrators and council next Tuesday.

The administrators have already forbidden the students to use the campus unless they agree to comply fully with the guidelines set earlier.

One of the guidelines requires issues, to be raised during the protest, to be agreed in advance with the administrators, the police and the students.

The Thammasat Alliance Group, which is planning the protest, has, however, vowed to press ahead with and use the Tha Prachan campus.

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