High school cancels exam after complaint from royalists
An oral exam of Matthayom 6 students* at Wat That Thong School* has been canceled by order of the Ministry of Education. This after complaints from a royalist group. This group reasoned that the questions could undermine the stability of the country.
The purpose of the oral Social Studies exam* was that students had to tell the teachers something about two current topics based on drawing lots. This concerned matters such as the rules for hairstyles, school uniforms, gay marriage, non-religiousness, “Thai style” democracy, the monarchy, human rights and so on. Opinions in society are strongly divided on some of these topics.
Royalist Association Chairman Mr. Songchai said that “No one can force another to love another. But if you don't have love then you shouldn't talk about it publicly. Who knows what impact this could have on national security?”
Opinions are divided on social media about banning the exam. For example, progressive Jon Ungphakorn, former senator and chairman of the i-Law group, wondered out loud: “To all Thai 'teachers' who focus on brainwashing children, how far back in time do you want to take education?”
The school has apologized and promised that this will not happen again. The teachers' sole intention would have been to encourage students to think critically and express themselves.
***
The full list of topics was:
- Article 112 (Lèse-majesté)
- Free hairstyle
- Breaking up monopolies
- “AI is a threat”
- Legal warfare
- Forced disappearances
- Combat teenage motherhood
- Have no religion
- Minimum wage
- Equal or unequal people?
- “Thai style” democracy
- Authoritarianism in school
- Digital wallet
- Cash-free society
- The monarchy and Thai society
- (online) Content Creators
- Climate crisis
- Digital footprint
- The voice of the people
- Whose business is politics?
- Safety in education
- Royal motorcade (motorcade incident)
- Equal access to marriage (gay marriage)
- Cannabis legalization
- Student or gangster (school gangs)
- Freer alcohol law
- Israel vs Palestine
- Crime in the digital age
- Brain drain
- Ukraine vs Russia
- Fast Fashion
- The pressure from Gen Z
- Buddhist commerce
- Computer games make you violent?
- soft-power
- Si Thep Ancient City
- PM 2,5 air pollution across national borders
- plague
- Mental well-being
- Student Loans, Why Debt for Education?
- Global Citizens
- Different worlds
- Have children when you're ready
- Human rights of prisoners
- Prisons are for poor people
- Third World country
- Role model
Sources:
- https://www.facebook.com/ThaiEnquirer/posts/pfbid0s5sdpqgxgUXxydjU3vqcG5g7Fv9ye3tuBKVF7JcubGwRQkAV2ggk6UYJystMknr5l
- https://www.facebook.com/ThaiEnquirer/posts/pfbid032oQ14cryUmAEiaJjQk1pJrYaCLHr657D7iqtEMaYw4U9hW4sBLEDQhWQuQ9pgbwTl
- https://thestandard.co/wat-that-thong-school-oral-exam-cancelled/
Nuts:
- Matthayom (มัธยม) 6: the last year of high school.
- Wat That Thong School: ร.ร.มัธยมวัดธาตุทอง
- Social studies: วิชาสาระร่วมสมัย (“Subject: Contemporary Events”)
If it wasn't clear yet, it is now: the Thai House is rock solid and is not talked about. As if you are shaking the foundations of society and that is how the royalists see it.
Caesar already said 'Bread and circuses' and that also applies in Thailand. Keep the people quiet and stupid.
It obviously takes a lot of courage for a school to test and implement your democratic policy without fear.
Many dissidents in Thailand have been arrested for this. This school also quickly backed down for fear of the consequences of these questions.
Dick van der Lugt, but also Tino have written a lot about these cultures of fear.
It always makes sense to write about this because it teaches people to stand up for freedom of expression with the aim of ensuring that the people are listened to for the national interest.
Danny
The worst part of this story is that the school has succumbed to these authoritarian arguments and is therefore and remains part of an oppressive system. The necessary social revolution is further away than ever.
As far as I'm concerned, this feels ambiguous: what was the purpose of that exam?
Do students want to succeed based on their opinions?
In other words: if the student's opinion agrees with the teachers' opinion, then it is a pass.
What if the student is not interested in the subject at all?
Or:
Want to gauge what's going on in the minds of the students?
In other words: gauging opinions…
This would allow teachers to pass on information to politicians...
Or:
The interest (and also the opinion) of the students:
I can imagine that students have no interest at all in some of the topics (Russia vs. Ukraine, Israel vs. Palestine, etc.) and therefore cannot say anything about them.
Many students have other things in mind, for example due to family circumstances (for example due to the financial situation of the parents and the family situation in general).
I don't think it is wrong at all to discuss these themes to inform students about them.
But I find an exam on these topics risky, because the student can be assessed (or convicted) based on his/her opinion.
Regards,
Daniel M.
The purpose of the exam was to “get students to think critically”. I used to have to defend statements at school that I sometimes fully or partially agreed/disagreed with. In this exam, the students had to say something about the subject in a few minutes, probably with arguments “I think opening up marriage is a good/bad thing because…”. A teacher then weighs whether the student in question has thought about the position, not whether the position fits the teacher's alley.
Couldn't find much else about the school, but as Tino has written several times: there are quite a few teachers who want to go off the beaten track but don't or don't dare to do so because the person above doesn't like it, who may even say that because no one wants to. above stepping on toes. If this school, from teacher to director, dares to go off the beaten track, it will certainly not be a school of stupid rambling. It is not so obvious that students are reported to the authorities for having the wrong opinion. But without further explanation it remains a guess. However, with the limited media messages, the intentions of the school/teachers seemed well-intentioned, I think.
Dear Rob V.
As far as I know Thailand, there are a number of topics that are beyond discussion.
As far as I know, it is prohibited and/or dangerous to be critical about a number of topics.
I am thinking of:
– Article 112 (Lèse-majesté);
– The monarchy and Thai society;
– Prisons are for poor people.
In Thailand, not everything is as it seems…
Theory (laws) and practice (application) are very far apart...
Most famous example: the traffic rules…
Regards,
Daniel M.