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  1. #1
    Thailand Expat tomcat's Avatar
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    Thai "Education" Denounced

    When education supports rape culture



    SANITSUDA EKACHAI
    FORMER EDITORIAL PAGES EDITOR
    PUBLISHED : 18 MAY 2020 AT 04:30

    School rapes in Thailand happen so frequently they no longer shock. But not this one. Not when underage schoolgirls were repeatedly gang-raped by their teachers. Not when other teachers callously defended the rapists and paedophiles as "good teachers and family men", dismissing the heinous crime as consensual sex and blaming the victims as "bad girls".

    Here are some of their posts on social media: "People make mistakes. As their friends in the same teaching profession, we want to ask those who call them rapists if they know the girls were willing partners.

    "These teachers are just men. They have sexual desires. If you are afraid of rape, teach your children at home. Don't send your kids to school.

    "They have families too. If they are in jail, who is going to take care of their families?"

    "Rape? So what? Turning against people who teach you makes you an ingrate."


    The public is furious, and rightly so. They are not only appalled by the horrific crime but are also enraged by those teachers' corrupt logic, ignorance of the law and failure to know right from wrong.

    It simply reconfirms public belief that nepotism comes first in the school system. Not the teachers' self-proclaimed professional ethics nor basic morality.

    Such systematic nepotism fosters a culture of impunity. School rapes occur routinely and rapist teachers are rarely punished. Had it not been for the fierce public anger on social media this time, these men might have been spared by the school's nepotism again.

    The social media outrage has forced the slumbering mandarins at the Office of the Basic Education Commission to temporarily dismiss the rapists/paedophiles during the investigation. They promised to investigate the teachers who supported the rapes, but pointed out that such a stance does not require disciplinary action.

    What? Supporting rape does not violate professional ethics?

    Is this mentality why sexual violence is so rife in the education system? Should we trust these people to be in charge of our children's education?

    The horrific gang-rapes occurred at a public school in Mukdahan province. According to the police investigation, the gang rapes by five teachers and two former students took place repeatedly on school premises. The two victims, aged 14 and 16, were reportedly threatened to comply and keep their mouths shut or be failed in their exams and have video clips of the attacks posted online. Some rapists also gave money to the victims after raping them.

    These men were sexually exploiting their students and treated the school as a brothel, yet their superiors and colleagues thought nothing was wrong with it. The crime went on for over a year. It is not possible that nobody knew about it until the matter came formally to light when a victim's grandmother found out and reported it to the police.

    Nepotism made other teachers, possibly also the school director, turn the other way. Sexism and a rape culture also saw them condemn the victims as bad girls who "asked for it".

    This mentality is sickening to the core. And the mandarins in Bangkok still think it is okay to let them teach our children.

    This is unacceptable.

    The largest chunk of our tax money goes to the Education Ministry. We pay more than 500 billion baht a year for public school teachers' decent salaries and lifetime pension security. Should we pay for teachers who believe that rape is okay?

    The Mukdahan school scandal has triggered a flood of public demands for justice and to make schools safe from all forms of sexual violence.
    Forgive my pessimism. I cannot see how schools can be a safe place for children when the education system is mired in authoritarianism and the schools are run like military camps.

    Debunk the myth that our education system's goal is to educate and foster creativity. It's a bunch of lies. Its real mission is to instil strict, military-like obedience, indoctrinate state ideology based on ultranationalism and racism, perpetuate social hierarchy and keep women in their places. The goal is to maintain the male-dominated status quo.

    Patriarchy, sexism and sexual oppression thrive to control people in this overarching authoritarianism -- particularly women. School rapes and other forms of sexual violence are mere manifestations of the authoritarian and militaristic culture that govern our schools' closed system.
    Authoritarianism indoctrinates people to submit to power. Sexism silences rape victims for fear of social stigma while nepotism makes the perpetrators immune to the crime. So the rape culture continues.

    It is next to impossible to make schools safe for girls when the larger society is not.

    Community say in school management may usher in transparency and help improve the situation. But community participation and school decentralisation are hitting a brick wall. The top-down Education Ministry and its teachers simply won't let go of their old power.

    At present, every school policy comes straight from the Education Ministry in Bangkok. Communities cannot even determine who and what to teach their children. Teachers are primarily outsiders, transferred to communities by top-down orders. With zero community say in salary scale and promotion, teachers have little regard for the locals.

    Meanwhile, the national curriculum from Bangkok bypasses local diversity and history, feeds city dreams and makes local kids look down on their cultural roots. While the rote system kills critical thinking, the large gap in educational quality between rural and city schools further aggravates disparity.

    Many other social malaises in the country are rooted in prejudice and discrimination. They go back to how people are taught in schools.
    For starters, the ultranationalistic textbook history brainwashes generation after generation of students to believe that the country belongs only to the Thai race.

    This is false. In fact, what is now Thailand has long been a crossroads of cultures and home of different ethnicities before the Thai-speaking people from southern China migrated into the peninsular.

    The adverse impacts of the false superiority of "Thainess" imposed by Bangkok are manifold.
    Not only are local cultural identities bulldozed, but political centralisation based on authoritarianism also enables the central Thai government to destroy the environment and sources of livelihood nationwide with no regards of their way of life.

    Racist national history also turns the indigenous forest dwellers into outsiders and subjects them to violent persecution. Brainwashed by the education system to see ethnic minorities as national security threats, the public and the media support the brutality.

    Meanwhile, racism against the Malay Muslims in the Deep South is behind the longstanding political oppression from the central government which spawned the separatist movement.

    In the same vein, this prevalent ethnic prejudice supports the use of slave-like labour in the commercial fishing industry, earning the country notoriety worldwide.

    The education system is also anti-democracy as it nurtures an authoritarian culture that makes democracy elusive. School militarism also tames young minds to submit to power and, sadly enough, embrace authoritarian values as their own. Subsequently, military dictatorship remains a mainstay in Thai politics.

    The calls for education reform often focus on the need to improve the quality of education, now behind much of the world. The complaints are also often about the failure of the education system to serve the job market's demands. Those shortcomings cannot compare to its real vice -- an education that poisons young minds with patriarchy, racial superiority and dictatorship.

    The rapist teachers must be brought to justice. But sexual violence won't end unless we deal with the abuse of power and sexism nurtured by the education system.




    Sanitsuda Ekachai is former editorial pages editor, Bangkok Post. She writes on gender, human rights, and Thai Buddhism.
    Majestically enthroned amid the vulgar herd

  2. #2
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
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    Holy heck, that's incredible!

  3. #3
    Thailand Expat tomcat's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheRealKW View Post
    Holy heck, that's incredible!
    ..yes, it is...it's heartening to know that there are locals who recognize "Thainess" for what it is: organized thuggery...

  4. #4
    Thailand Expat prawnograph's Avatar
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    Mukdahan - "All of the suspects denied the allegations and were released on bail."

    COALITION MPS CALL FOR CASTRATION OF RAPISTS
    By Khaosod English -May 18, 2020 6:50 pm

    BANGKOK — The House Committee on anti-rape measures on Monday called for a law that would force convicted rapists to be punished by chemical castration.

    The call for harsher punishment was made by Phalang Pracharat MPs Patcharin Sumsiripong and Karnkanit Heawsantati, who filed a petition to justice minister Somsak Thepsutin on behalf of the committee. They said they are pushing for the new law to promote public safety since the child abuse still an issue in Thai society.

    “The issue of sexual abuse involving with students and teachers still persists over the past years,” Patcharin said. “Schoolgirls have faced many types of violence, from rape to molestation. This becomes a public concern and it has to be solved right away.”

    Tanansak Borwornnuntakul, a criminology expert who works for the parliamentary committee, said sexual assaults can be prevented by “an eye for an eye” punishments such as chemical castration, jobs ban, and life imprisonment.

    He also suggested a national sex offender registry to be set up as it has proven to be effective in many countries.

    The lawmakers made the call after five teachers and two school alumni in Mukdahan province were charged for allegedly raping two students. All of the suspects denied the allegations and were released on bail.

    In addition to severe penalties proposed by the MPs, measures such as witness protection programs and compensation funds should also be provided to the victims, Patcharin said.

    “They should be protected physically and mentally,” Patcharin said. “Any presentation of photos or news that can lead to the identity of the victims should also be prevented because it is a disgrace and defamation for them.”

    Chemical castration has been approved as a punishment to repeated sex offenders or pedophiles in many countries such as South Korea, Indonesia, and certain states of the US.

  5. #5
    Thailand Expat tomcat's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by prawnograph View Post
    BANGKOK — The House Committee on anti-rape measures on Monday called for a law that would force convicted rapists to be punished by chemical castration.
    ...no need to bother with expensive chemicals...just call in a vet...

  6. #6
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    "Sanitsuda Ekachai is former editorial pages editor, Bangkok Post. She writes on gender, human rights, and Thai Buddhism." I like reading her stuff, she doesn't seem shy to tell it like is.

  7. #7
    Thailand Expat tomcat's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by marcusb View Post
    "Sanitsuda Ekachai is former editorial pages editor, Bangkok Post. She writes on gender, human rights, and Thai Buddhism." I like reading her stuff, she doesn't seem shy to tell it like is.
    ...I wonder why she's still alive...

  8. #8
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    Headworx's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by tomcat View Post
    ...no need to bother with expensive chemicals...just call in a vet...
    No need to bother with expensive vets...just call in the local pork vendor with his meat cleaver...

  9. #9
    Thailand Expat tomcat's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Headworx View Post
    No need to bother with expensive vets...just call in the local pork vendor with his meat cleaver...
    ...savage, but the operation goes to the lowest bidder, I guess...

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