The Student Affairs Section of Thammasat University has issued a statement saying that people should not to associate Thammasat with activists demanding a probe into Rajabhakti park scandal, while many academics have urged the University to reconsider its statement.

On Wednesday morning, 9 December 2015, the Student Affairs Section of Thammasat University issued a statement about the detention on Monday of more than a dozen of activists, some of whom are Thammasat students and graduates, while they were on an excursion to Rajabhakti Park to investigate the park corruption scandal.

The statement urges the public not to associate Thammasat University with the activists, saying that their actions were meant to cause disruption in governance.

“The Student Affairs Section of Thammasat University thinks that the exercise of rights which was done in the name of Thammasat students was aimed to cause disruption in governance,” reads part of the statement. “Moreover, not all the activists in the group are Thammasat students or graduates.”

The statement added that the University supports the exercise of freedom in a ‘responsible manner’, recognizing the effect on the public.

On the same day, academics affiliated with Thammasat University expressed concerns over the statement, saying that the University should reconsider its position over the activists.

Yukti Mukdawijitra, a Social Science lecturer at Thammasat, called the statement of the Student Affairs Section ‘shameful’. “Day by day, Thammasat University is degrading its position and is getting more shameful,” Yukti commented.        

Ronnakorn Bunmee, a law scholar lecturing at Thammasat University, posted on his Facebook profile “I believe that [the Student Affairs Section’s] perspective and stand in the statement should be reconsidered especially considering the current social context and the historical stands of Thammasat University.”

The law scholar added that the actions of the activists were peaceful and that their voices are especially needed in the reconciliation process.

“Of course, this argument would be meaningless if the truth is that the current context of Thai society is not one that fosters [political] transition and reconciliation, but suppression of different thoughts,” Ronnakorn wrote on Facebook.