Thai college students’ political activism, which reached its peak in the 1970s during the Thanom/Prapas dictatorial regime, appears to have regained lost ground in recent months.

Thanachai Soonthorn-anantachai, 21, the head of Thammasat University’s student union, said the unified student movement that led to the 1973 popular uprising no longer existed on campus.

While today’s students might not

be as politically motivated as in the past, they remain committed to upholding the basic civic rights, Thanachai notes.

“We decided to join the ongoing anti-government rallies because it’s the people’s right to express their opinion of a government as long as it’s not done violently,” he says, referring to the February 4 and February 11 rallies led by media firebrand Sondhi Limthongkul and more than 20 civic groups.

According to Thanachai, the TU student union has attempted to avoid being “used” by other parties so the union has initiated a campaign for the public to sign up if they think Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra no longer has the legitimacy to govern.

It hopes to gather 50,000 or more signatures so that the Senate can be asked to launch impeachment proceedings against the premier.

“Given our history, TU should not stay on the sidelines. We think the signature-gathering is a middle-path solution to the ongoing political tension. It’s sort of a compromise,” says Thanachai.

According to Thanachai, a fourth-year law student, today’s student interests are very diverse, and politics is no longer the predominant area of interest.

Yet many students, including himself, are still impressed by the history of their predecessors’ political ideology and tough action.

“However, I think we have to say that the political environment today is unlike that of the past, notably of the 1970s, when Thailand was governed by a military dictatorship that suppressed the basic rights of the Thai people.

“And we also have to admit that the force of consumerism is so strong these days that many of one’s friends are probably more interested in shopping and entertainment etc than political activism,” he says.

Son of a Bangkok middle-class family, Thanachai says he sees himself as a “big-city” boy who hardly has had any exposure to rural issues.

Besides consumerism, he suggests that his generation has been driven by market forces and “competition”.

“I grew up with the sense that I had to compete fiercely for a place in a good public school and a good state university and then get a good job.

“Yet I also like school and college extracurricular activities. When I was in grade 10, I began to take part in stage dramas, sports and student organisations. I also helped manage a network of 10 high schools in Bangkok.”

Thanachai chose TU for its excellence in legal studies, which he says hold out more flexible career prospects than other subjects, since you can work in any industry as a lawyer.

Of his peers, he says young adults are overloaded with information and heavily influenced by the tide of capitalism.

“Yes, we’re more materialistic than previous generations. We spend a lot of time and resources on fashion, music, TV and other forms of entertainment. We care more about our own interests, and we’re less oriented to the public interest.

“I guess out of every 10 students, fewer than four are keen on social work. Some students are also more interested in ‘soft’ activities than hard-core activism, as in politics.”

Prior to the February 4 anti-government rally, he says, students were reluctant to engage in political activism because the situation was fluid at the time.

“We didn’t want to be used by other parties. We still did not trust anyone. Now the situation is clear. We’re pretty sure about our action. Before this, we were not convinced by reading newspapers. Now we realise how bad the situation is. That’s why we launched the 50,000-signature campaign,” he says.

The TU union expects it will take a few months to get 50,000 people to sign up for impeachment proceedings.

Kamol Sukin