Student murder receives scant attention

We often hear the comment that, when compared with the West, human life is cheap in Thailand. This truism was brought home to me once again when I read the Bangkok Post issue of Friday, 14 August.

Tucked away on page 4 in the InBrief section of national news was a ninety word item under the heading: Student Murdered

The brief report caught my attention because I know the area where the attack took place well. It is a very public place; a heavily used pedestrian thoroughfare across busyLat Phrao road between shopping complexes.

SCHOOL RIVALRY: A student at Dusit Technology School has been stabbed to death by students of a rival school in Bang Kapi district. Thirapon Nonsap, 18, was confronted by a group of students from a rival school while crossing a footbridge opposite the Bang Kapi branch of The Mall department store, police said.

The students chased Mr Thirapon and stabbed him with a knife before fleeing.

Mr Thirapon sustained several severe cuts to his head and body. He died on his way to hospital, police said.

My condolences to the Mr Thirapon’s family and friends.

In my own country this would be a major news story and would quickly be analysed by education authorities and investigative journalists.  In Bangkok, in the English language press at least, this is the last we will hear of the incident.

Over the years, the rivalry and violence between students at Bangkok vocational schools has been reported and perhaps the Post is tired of it, preferring now to beat up stories about bad taxi drivers.

But how can this type of behaviour – especially murder – by the city’s youth be allowed to continue? It is a major issue that must be addressed if Thailand is to continue on its a path to ‘development’.

I have sensed first-hand the community concern about the potential for such incidents when I have caught public buses after school hours. It is disconcerting to see  police and security officers supervising every movement of vocational students to prevent violence in the immediate vicinity of the schools.

It really is time for authorities to stamp this out. They need to ask themselves what is being taught within these vocational schools? Surely some kind of values education programs to foster socialization need to be incorporated in the curriculum.

One contributing factor to the tacit acceptance that student violence goes hand-in-hand with vocational education  may be that these schools sit at the bottom of the educational prestige ladder in Thailand. This is a country where  manual work is denigrated.

Vocational studies is the lowest possible educational calling for Thais, and issues of poor student self-esteem are certainly part of the task confronting authorities.

If technicians and manual workers were to receive salaries commensurate with their training and skills, the stigma of being a vocational student would surely disappear and the poor social skills of this stigmatised sub-stratum of Thai youth would become a thing of the past.

Furthermore, if a shortage of skilled workers led to increased competition for vocational study places, a vocational education would be valued and student feelings of self-worth would increase.

Regrettably, any change in attitude in the short to medium term will be difficult to achieve within the highly regimented hierarchial society that exists today in Thailand.