SOON AFTER Triam Udom Suksa Pattanakarn School issued a statement late this afternoon (June 17) that 15-year-old Thanalop Phalanchai, or Yok, no longer has student status for not complying with the condition that a parent must hand over the student at the start of the new school year, she clarified her actions in a Facebook post, TV Channel 7 said.
The tenth grader is the youngest person ever accused of violating the lese majeste law, better known as Criminal Code Section 112, and was detained at Baan Pranee Juvenile Vocational Training Centre for Girls for 51 days before the court allowed her to be bailed out.
In her Facebook post Yok said the following:
1) I could not go to school on time and entered the class late because I was prevented from attending school but I always punctually attend classes;
2) I do not choose to only study the subjects I like but think ethics is a useless subject. Teaching students to be a good person will not make them one;
3) I am not against all activities, with the same applying to Baan Pranee detention centre. I do not say a prayer before eating but if I have to clean the centre of the table, I do it. I do not agree with paying homage to teachers as this is useless for youths and students;
4) My actions do not stem from stubbornness but that I think what is occurring in Thai schools is not normal. A lot of students want to wear ordinary clothes but are prevented from doing so by their parents, society, a structure that suppresses them, and pressure from their school. They then do not own their own body. As this starts from childhood do you then expect them upon growing up and becoming judges, civil servants and holding high-ranking positions to have the courage to go against wrong orders from the boss?
5) Thai society has to change, if not now then when? I speak as a youth with change enabling me and other youths to move ahead. Being adults in an adult world is one thing but what must youths do to bring about change? Pleas over the last few decades have not led to change.
What I have done today is not murder, it is an expression of my thoughts through symbols. Dressing like this does not mean I am unable to study; what makes it impossible to study is the school and its personnel.
CAPTION:
Pixelated image of Thanalop Phalanchai, or Yok, right, and Triam Udom Suksa Pattanakarn School’s statement. Photo: TV Channel 7
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