Privatisation will turn universities into money-making business concerns and any social conscience will die out, according to academics and students opposed to the transition. Once state universities become autonomous bodies academics would have the status of employees instead of civil servants. Academics are concerned it will lead to the loss of their freedom - including freedom to express opinions, as staff exist on yearly contracts.

And staff would avoid doing anything that might annoy the executives who evaluate them in regard to their contracts being extended, according to Sompong Jitradab, a lecturer at Chulalongkorn University.

Sompong has expressed concern over "privatisation" through interviews and articles in Thai-language newspapers. His messageb is the bureaucratic system has acted like a shield for academics for a long time and made them secure enough in their career to criticise social and political issues, and confront any illegitimacy.

Meanwhile, the head of Chulalongkorn's student political activists Kengkij Kitirianglarp, claims academic variety would never go hand in hand with privatisation.

A state university with steady financial support from the government guaranteed freedom for university students to express their opinions. The only freedom at autonomous universities would be limited to "outsider capitalists".

He said academic research at autonomous universities wouldn't be honestly conducted for public good. Research would be conducted only for income. When universities depend on the business sector for research funds, they would only carry out research that suits the interests of a particular firm.

The crucial point, he said, was because they would receive less money from the government, universities would have to charge higher tuition fees.

Kengkij said that despite promises by the government to maintain the present level of budgetary allocation to state universities, no one could confirm that tuition fees would not be raised.

"A deputy rector of Chula said on a public stage that he was unable to guarantee that fees would remain at the present level when the university is forced to earn for itself," Kengkij said.

He said faculties that did not bring in income would be eliminated to make way for profitable courses that only serve the market.

"It would affect the root of universities that have a long-history of social devotion. It might make students lose pride in their university," Sompong said.

Before talking about the flexibility in university administration, universities should give priority to transparency and educational equality, Kengkij said.

"What's the use of flexibility if universities can't provide education that responds to the public."

King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok's student organisation secretary Pattaradanai Jongkua said while tuition fees at the university's engineering faculty was Bt9,000 per semester, the fee for the faculty at King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Thonburi was hiked to Bt30,000 per semester after it became an autonomous body.

The two universities used to operate under the same bill before the latter was privatised.

King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Thonburi became autonomous according to an agreement with the IMF during the 1997 financial crisis, in order to cut government expenses.

Pattaradanai said the country was now free from the agreement, so there was no need to push forward plans for autonomous universities.

"Moreover, in the university-privatisation bill, there is no word guaranteeing the present level of financial support from the government," he said.

Such concerns have persuaded more and more students to join the protest.

Kengkij said he had over 2,000 signatures from Chula students, staff and others opposed to the moves.

Pattaradanai said a similar number of King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Thonburi's students and staff had also signed a petition.

"If a public hearing was conducted and most of the university students and personnel said they want university privatisation, I would accept it. But it's impossible," Kengkij said.

Naresuan University Student Network representative, Nutthapol Hiranyawong, said most students at Naresuan did not have sufficient information about the impact of such a move. It was the duty of the university to foster a better understanding of the issue among the students if it hoped to become autonomous, Nutthapol claimed.