Thirayuth Boonmee (, ; born 10 January 1950) is a Thai social scientist,

public intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and Human self-reflection, reflection about the nature of reality, especially the nature of society and proposed solutions for its normative problems. Coming from the wor ...

and a former student

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

Student leader

While a student at

Chulalongkorn University Chulalongkorn University (CU; ; , ) is a public university, public Autonomous university, autonomous research university in Bangkok, Thailand. The university was originally founded during King Chulalongkorn's reign as a school for training ro ...

in 1973, Thirayuth led the National Student Center of Thailand (NSCT) in coordinating political activism against the military dictatorship of

Thanom Kittikachorn Thanom Kittikachorn (, , ; 11 August 1911 – 16 June 2004) was Prime Minister of Thailand from 1963 to 1973, military officer, who supported and initiated military coups and became Thailand's defence minister. He rose to power when he staged a ...

and

Praphas Charusathien Praphas Charusathien (, , ; 25 November 1912 – 18 August 1997) was a Thai military officer and politician. He was a Field Marshal (Thailand), field marshal of the Royal Thai Army and minister of interior in the governments of military rulers Sa ...

. The NSCT led tens of thousands in public protests against the regime. One of the earlier activities of the NSCT had been a 10-day boycott against Japanese products, in protest against Japanese investments in Thailand. On 6 October 1973, Thirayuth and 12 other student activists were arrested by the Praphas government for

sedition Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech or organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, establ ...

after they distributed leaflets demanding a new

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

. Rumors spread that they had been killed, which sparked massive anti-government protests. The demonstrations reached their peak on 13 October, when about 400,000 protesters gathered in front of the

Democracy Monument The Democracy Monument () is a public monument in the city center of Bangkok, capital of Thailand. It occupies a traffic circle on the wide east–west Ratchadamnoen Avenue, at the intersection of Dinso Road. The monument is roughly halfway betw ...

and the parliament building. That afternoon, Thirayuth and the other students were released, and the

king King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

approved plans to draft a new constitution within 12 months. Thirayuth also played a role in exposing the Internal Security Operations Command's role in a massacre of villagers at Ban Na Sai village in the northeast. After the student massacre at

Thammasat University Thammasat University (TU; ; , ) is a public university, public research university in Thailand with campuses in the Tha Phra Chan area of Bangkok, Rangsit, Pattaya and Lampang Province. , Thammasat University has over 39,000 students enrolled in ...

on 6 October 1976, Thirayuth, as well as many other students and intellectuals fled from the cities to take refuge with the

Communist Party of Thailand The Communist Party of Thailand ( Abrv: CPT; , ) was a communist party in Thailand active from 1942 until the 1990s. The CPT was founded officially on 1 December 1942, although communist activism in the country began as early as 1927. In the 1 ...

(CPT) in its jungle strongholds. Thirayuth increasingly became critical of the king, noting in a broadcast on 1 April 1977 that the monarchy was "obsolete and deteriorating", and that "I think that if our people were to destroy it, there would be no adverse effects". After the CPT dissolved itself in the early-1980s, Thirayuth returned to the mainstream of Thai intellectual life, renouncing socialism and rejecting his anti-monarchical statements.

Academic career

Thirayuth went to the Netherlands to study Philosophy, Sociology and Anthropology at the

International Institute of Social Studies The International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) of Erasmus University Rotterdam is an independent international graduate school of policy-oriented social science. ISS was established in 1952 by Dutch universities and the Netherlands Mini ...

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

and

University of Nijmegen Radboud University (abbreviated as RU, , formerly ) is a public research university located in Nijmegen, Netherlands. RU has seven faculties and more than 24,000 students. Established in 1923, Radboud University has consistently been included in ...

, earning a ''

doctorandus Doctorandus (; ; drs.) is a Dutch academic title according to the pre- Bachelor– Master system. The female form is doctoranda (dra.; this form is not commonly used). The title is acquired by passing the ''doctoraalexamen'', the exam which usua ...

'' degree ( M.A. equivalent). In 1985 returned to Thailand. For many years he has taught in the Faculty of Sociology and Anthropology of

. In 1997, he was named one of Thailand's ten most influential

s. In 2008, Thirayuth became director of the Sanya Dharmasakti Institute for Democracy at Thammasat University. In 2012 he was appointed Professor of Anthropology. In 2015, he moved to Thammasat University's College of Interdisciplinary Studies. Thirayuth was an outspoken critic of prime minister

Thaksin Shinawatra Thaksin Shinawatra (, ; born 26 July 1949) is a Thai businessman and politician who was the 23rd prime minister of Thailand from 2001 to 2006. Since 2009 he has also been a citizen of Montenegro. Thaksin founded the mobile phone operator A ...

(2001–2006), for whose rule he coined the term "Thaksinocracy".

References

External links

* Giles Ungpakorn
Cleansing democracy of socialism
Thirayuth Boonmee Student politics 1950 births Living people Thirayuth Boonmee Thirayuth Boonmee International Institute of Social Studies alumni Social anthropologists 20th-century anthropologists 21st-century anthropologists Thirayuth Boonmee Anthropology educators Sociology educators Social philosophers Thirayuth Boonmee {{Thailand-academic-bio-stub

Student leader

Academic career

References

Further reading

External links