"It's hell," said one university student, telling him about his participation in one of Thailand's notorious and apparently inescapable hazing practices.
These are known by the acronym SOTUS (Seniority, Order, Tradition, Unity, Spirit) or also called Ráp Nóng (welcoming young people) and are said to have started in the XNUMXs at Kasetsart University following the example of Cornell University and other universities in the US Cornell has now banned hazing, but in Thailand it still takes place at many universities.
More sadism than warm welcome
It was announced this month that new students were beaten at Chiang Mai University between April 17 and 19. Images of their bruises and bruises, though not serious, surfaced on social media. The university promised an investigation and punishment if the seniors did the hazing "without permission." But the endorsed SOTUS with its unashamed way of violently introducing students to the new university and its hierarchy is not likely to disappear because it is the result of a broader Thai ethical standard: anchoring young minds in a hierarchical order.
In the most serious cases, students are stripped naked, beaten, sexually harassed, forced to crawl through polluted water, and sometimes killed (perhaps by accident). At the very least, they are yelled at and humiliated. Hazing sometimes seems more like allowed sadism than a warm welcome.
Died during hazing
Phokhai Saengrojrat, a student at Pathumthani Technical School, died after being forced to drink an alcoholic drink and then have his face pushed into the sand at Sai Noi beach in Prachuan Khiri province. His parents told the press that they wanted this to be the last time anyone died during a hazing incident. There were more deaths. In 2008, a Uthenthawai University student died from injuries sustained during a hazing session. Students at Chiang Mai University claim that taking photos and videos during the hazing rituals is prohibited, although fortunately they still appear on social media. At Maejo University in Chiang Mai, students who recorded a hazing incident were attacked and punished.
A short film, made by students and with English subtitles, titled Vicious circle, shows the brutality of the hazing rituals and the fate of those who oppose them. There are Anti-Sotus Facebook pages (see below: a Thai and an English-international) that want to draw attention to the barbarity of the rituals, but they continue anyway. To look!
Video: The Vicious Circle
….then stand and bow your head
The Ministry of Education has stated that students are not required to attend these rituals and has issued some guidelines including: 'follow morally acceptable traditions and culture of the society' and 'no physical or psychological harassment'. Thailand's National Commission for Human Rights has also taken up the matter with some success, but the practice continues.
The student who wrote on the Anti-SOTUS Facebook page that the hazing was a living hell cited the orders students are being told at Chiang Mai's Maejo University, notorious for its strict hazing practices. They are:
- Respect Maejo law as the law of the Kingdom.
- Do what's right. Do what the seniors tell you to do.
- Finish your sentence with "sir" or ma'am' whenever you address a senior.
- When you hear the 'Maejo song' stand up, bow your head and say hello.
Fear of exclusion
Students say that it is often the pressure from the peer group and the fear of exclusion that causes them to attend the hazing. A philosophy student told Chiang Mai City News that "seniors tell all freshmen not to freak out." They only do it to avoid being seen as outsiders. Many students want to make a choice, but they are afraid. We want to be able to choose and we hope that will change soon."
There are students who support the 'tradition', despite the protests. Others said that SOTUS gave them strength and confidence and admiration for the institution while one ex-student wrote on an Anti-Sotus page: 'SOTUS made me love the university forever. It will stay with me all my life."
Sotus isn't always into reprehensible violent activity without good intentions. Sometimes it's fun and funny. But even then there is an underlying and clear idea: suppressing someone's individual freedom. Thai newspapers often lament the lack of critical thinking among pupils and students. It would be better if they condemned the hazing rituals because they hammer out critical thinking before they even pay for their textbooks.
Students are victims of a dictatorial system
Outspoken former Chiang Mai University lecturer Tanet Charoenmuang wrote an article entitled 'Shouting The Creation and Inheritance of Dictatorship in University' in which he outlines how Sotus undermines human rights and freedoms and says that 'students are victims of a dictatorial system '. That was before Thailand had a real dictator.
Let's compare the four "commands" mentioned above during initiation at Maejo University with four of the twelve core values that students are required to recite every day at school:
- Maintain the three key institutions: the Nation, the Religions and the Monarchy (respect Maejo laws).
- Be thankful for your parents, guardians and teachers (Do as the seniors tell you).
- Maintain discipline, respect the law, parents and other seniors (End your sentence with 'sir' or 'ma'am').
- Put the public and national interest before your own ( Bow and salute when you hear the “Maejo song”).
Because SOTUS equates to a hierarchical and dictatorial system, it is absolutely undemocratic. SOTUS is no exception, limited only to bad boys and girls in academia. SOTUS is deeply connected to Thai culture, with thainess, that woolly notion that would define all Thais.
Homoerotic hazing in the military
Hazing does not only take place in academia. The Thai military has its own form of hazing where conscripts are subjected to violent homoerotic activity as seen in photos and videos on Facebook pages like NoConscript and Abolish Conscription.
As in SOTUS, the humiliation and destruction of dignity is the modus operandi of all oppressors. It serves to maintain the status quo and put people in their place. Although the military's approach is a lot more violent than that of the universities, it all serves the same purpose and stems from the same motivation: to weaken individuality and to strengthen the belief in a carefully constructed hierarchy.
In the end, the oppressed become the oppressors like the title of the short film Vicious circle displays perfectly. And it will not stop until this ideology is dismantled in the Thai mind.
The Thai word that perfectly reflects this idea is saǎmákkhie which means 'unity, harmony, uniformity'. It is in the Thai national anthem, in the above-mentioned 12 core values and is constantly featured in the junta's daily propaganda talk on television.
And that ideology will only be dismantled when a real revolution takes place, I would add.
Illustrations
- www.facebook.com/NoConscript
- www.facebook.com/conscription
Sources
The above article is a translation of Sanctioned sadism: Thai universities' barbaric hazing culture by James Austin at asiancorrespondent.com/ (May 1, 2015). The passage about hazing in the army was added by Tino.
The Anti-Sotus Facebook pages: www.facebook.com/AntiSOTUSPage?fref=ts (Thai only)
International (stops early 2014), worth reading: www.facebook.com/AntiSotusInternationalEdition?fref=ts&hc_location=ufi
Hazing occurs all over the world in all kinds of sectors and could be a good activity, but it is so often a sick form of derailment that in my opinion it should be immediately banned everywhere. The original idea behind it has been completely lost and what is left is abuse of power, humiliation and sometimes even torture
Still fresh in our memories... https://shorturl.at/djwJL
Perhaps for your information: My daughter has obtained 2 masters and a doctorate at the KUL. She has never, ever wanted to be part of a student club or participate in a hazing baptism. Despite this, she built up an extensive circle of friends there and was never excluded.
Student clubs are a bunch of vulgar drunkards without any sense of respect. And that it is precisely those people who hold important positions after their studies.
PS: My daughter has told me many times that the biggest pigs at university (and afterwards) are the doctors. There you have it.
The above article does not surprise me. If you, as a student, want to become a member of such a posh student association, you are usually required to participate in a hazing ritual. This is also the case in the Netherlands, Belgium, England, etc. And there have also been deaths there in recent years.