A school in Bangkok has dropped a controversial test for Year 13 students under orders from the Office of the Basic Education Commission (OBEC) after an ultra-royalist group raised concerns that the test could pose a risk to national security.

The test, which was developed at Matthayom Wat Thatthong School, went viral on social media last week after one of the teachers disseminated it on a personal Facebook account. The test was admired by netizens for encouraging students to think outside the box, but it also backfired when some people viewed the test as inappropriate. The post was later deleted.

The oral test covered 50 keywords about domestic and international current affairs, such as the royal defamation law (Section 112), political exile, the monarchy and Thai society, fast fashion, Ukraine vs Russia, and the climate crisis. Students would randomly select a keyword themselves by lot, and had 3 minutes to explain the keyword. After that, a teacher gave them 2 questions to answer.

Songchai Niamhom, leader of the ultra-royalist King Protection Group, went to the school on Monday to file a complaint with the School Director about the test due to his concern about national security since the test contains several political keywords. The activist confirmed that he has not yet sought legal action, but if he finds that the test could pose a threat, he would do so. He also raised concerns about what teachers want to instil.

“No one can force anyone to love anyone. No one can force anyone not to love anyone. But if you do not love and do not have faith, you should keep it to yourself. Any action that may result in an impact on national security or affect the feelings of a great number of the people should be kept to oneself alone and should not be shown to the public,” said Songchai.

Later, a teacher at the school revealed that the school had already cancelled the test following an order from OBEC earlier this weekend. Songchai also said the school confirmed that no such a test will be used again.

Thanu Wongchinda, OBEC Secretary-General, stated that the Education Ministry has acknowledged the issue and also ordered OBEC to investigate and report to the Ministry within 7 days.