BANGKOK: Students piled bamboo cans and stationery in front of the Thai Ministry of Education and sprayed crimson paint on them in protest of corporal punishment, one of several demonstrations in the capital on Saturday. ۔
A small demonstration on Teachers’ Day was organized by the “Bad Student” group, which has been involved in the youth-led pro-democracy movement that has blocked the state for six months.
The Quaid-e-Azam movement is widely united in its demands for a review of the government of Prime Minister Prayit Chen-o-cha and reforms of the monarchy.
But some also protested to stop their grievances from stabilizing – such as the treatment of various backward classes and the education system.
Protest leader Lipnapat Wang Pesit said on Saturday that protesters wanted to use “YKR Day” or “Teachers’ Day” to show the “two sides” of Thailand’s education system.
“There is a beautiful side and a dark side. On the one hand, the teachers have hurt the students,” Lapnapp said.
“We want to make the ministry aware of this problem and resolve it.”
Thailand’s ultra-conservative education system has long been criticized for its rhetoric as well as its emphasis on strict rules.
If students are considered disobedient, they face severe punishment and public humiliation.
The Bad Student Group – whose tactics pose a legal risk to its members – is calling for cultural change, curriculum restoration, and relaxation of the rules for controlling everyone from hair style to skirt length.
On Saturday, a student in a school uniform threw blood-stained red paint on the door of the ministry, in front of which were rulers, scissors and thin bamboo sticks. He then put the paint on himself, saying, “This is a symbol of the students’ experience in school,” and a three-finger salute, as indicated by the pro-democracy movement in the “Hunger Games” film trilogy. Is.
Earlier on Saturday, another group gathered at the Bangkok Victory Monument to light a 112-meter (370-foot) banner criticizing the kingdom’s harsh royal defamation law.
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