Midnight University is a Thai virtual university for free public education. It contains over 1,500 scholarly articles. In 2006 it received more than 2.5 million visits per month from users around the world. Besides providing scholarly articles, the Midnight University website provides space for the public to discuss social and political issues. It is based in
Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai (, from th, เชียงใหม่ , nod, , เจียงใหม่ ), sometimes written as Chiengmai or Chiangmai, is the largest city in northern Thailand, the capital of Chiang Mai province and the second largest city in ...
.
Following the
2006 Thai coup d'état
The 2006 Thai ''coup d'état'' took place on 19 September 2006, when the Royal Thai Army staged a ''coup d'état'' against the elected caretaker government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The ''coup d'état'', which was Thailand's first ...
, Midnight University's website
was shut down after
Chiang Mai University
Chiang Mai University ( CMU; th, มหาวิทยาลัยเชียงใหม่) is a public research university in northern Thailand founded in 1964. It has a strong emphasis on engineering, science, agriculture, and medicine. It ...
management and staff protested the junta's
draft interim charter.
Kasian Tejapira Kasian, Kaseyan, Kasiyan, Kasyan orKhasian ( fa, كاسيان) may refer to:
*Kasian, Chaypareh, West Azerbaijan Province
*Kasian, Urmia, West Azerbaijan Province
*Kasian-e Rostam Khani
*Qaleh-ye Kasian
*Qanat-e Kasian
*Kasi (Pashtun tribe)
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of
Thammasat University
Thammasat University (Abbreviation, Abrv: TU th, มธ.; th, มหาวิทยาลัยธรรมศาสตร์, , ) is a public research university in Thailand with campuses in Tha Phra Chan area of Phra Nakhon District near the ...
claimed the website was "the foremost free and critical educational and public intellectual website in Thailand. The shutdown was not only a huge loss to academic and intellectual freedom in Thai society, but also the closure of a free forum for the contention of ideas so as to find a peaceful alternative to violent conflict in Thailand." Kraisorn Pornsuthee,
Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT) Permanent Secretary claimed ignorance of the shutdown of the website and declined to give his rationale or opinion about the matter.
References
{{Reflist
External links
Midnight University (archived copy)
Thai educational websites
Political mass media in Thailand