<p>An opinion that shows how SOTUS and hazing culture in education institutions and society&nbsp;pave a foundation for dictatorship and authoritarianism in Thailand.</p>

<p>There are contentious debates about these sites: were they a sympathetic way of helping small traders, or rather for boasting and promoting elitism? This led us to think about what actually contributed to this phenomenon.</p>

<div> <div>This year’s university initiation season has been inaugurated with the message that “touching someone else’s genitals can create love and unity.” Meanwhile, an anti-Islam monk has been disrobed for inciting violence against Muslims.</div> </div> <h2>Too much love at a Thai university</h2> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div> <div>The beginning of the university year in Thailand is marked by reports of physical, mental and sexual abuse against freshman students during initiation activities. </div></div>

<div> <div>Silpakorn University (SU) has initiated an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment during freshman orientation activities, where students were allegedly forced to strip and shower together.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The allegations emerged on 16 September 2017 when Anti-SOTUS, a network that campaigns against human rights violations in universities, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/AntiSOTUSPage/">posted on its Facebook page</a> reports it had received from SU Fine Arts students. </div></div>

<p>Youth activists advocating education reform have condemned those involved in the latest hazing scandal, urging the authorities to bring justice for the victim who nearly drowned.</p>

<p>A youth group opposing hazing rituals commonly practised in Thai universities is urging students to confront hazers with reasons, pointing out that the rituals breed authoritarianism in Thai society.</p> <p>A youth group called ‘ANTI-SOTUS’ on Saturday, 4 June 2016, organised a public discussion at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, about the SOTUS system in Thailand.</p>

<p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-a9ccecfb-5b7e-48d4-8aa6-ef1ab4ff502b">SUMMARY</span></p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-a9ccecfb-5b7e-48d4-8aa6-ef1ab4ff502b">- Hazing in Thai universities, known as SOTUS, every year leads to scandalous actions and even fatalities. Calls to end it are met by its strong supporters, including academics and university administrations.</span></p>

<p>Thai universities have just started their delayed academic year, but bang on cue, the articles pour in about what happens to new students at institutes of higher education.</p> <p>In the English reports, the preferred term is normally ‘hazing’, but take a moment to look at the Thai term – ‘<em>rab nong</em>’ – which carries none of the connotations of a potentially dangerous or embarrassing rite of passage.</p>

<p>More than 100 academics and activists throughout the country have issued a joint statement in support of an embattled lecturer in Isan, Thailand’s Northeast, who has received threats and online bullying after expressing her disapproval over hazing rituals.</p>

<p>A network of Thai university students has submitted a statement to the Education Ministry to call for an end to hierarchy and the abuse of human rights during university hazing rituals.</p> <p>Students from the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/AntiSOTUSPage">Network for Hazing Reform for Human Rights</a> on Monday, 3 August 2015, submitted a statement to the Ministry of Education to state the group’s stand against the notorious SOTUS system found in many of Thailand’s universities.</p>

<p dir="ltr">Part III of the Modern Thai Student Movement paper focuses on two other student organizations of Isan, Khon Kaen and Mahasarakham, who describe themselves as apolitical. While one focus on local social development and problems in education, the other set their goals on amending the “SOTUS” system, perceived as one of the social ill.</p> <p></p>