Protest signs appeared at several locations around Thammasat University’s Tha Prachan campus this morning (2 September) while  2^nd Army Region Commander Lt Gen Boonsin Padklang was giving a talk at the Faculty of Liberal Arts.

Protesters standing at the university entrance holding a banner saying “Many people died. One person gets attention.”

Flyers carrying messages like Diplomacy before military action, No hypernationalism before military action,  Citizens get hurt, soldiers get killed, the commander gets attention, and The military must be under the civilian government were put up on on message boards around campus.

At around 11.00, protesters were also seen standing at the entrance to the university holding a banner saying “Many people died. One person gets attention.”

Lt Gen Boonsin has been giving talks at several universities in Bangkok. At Kasetsart University, which he visited on 25 August, student activists also put a placard on the university’s entrance saying Your subordinates are getting injured and dying at the border [while you] the Commander are acting manly and looking for attention.

This morning (2 September), Lt Gen Boonsin gave a talk entitled “Vision, morals, and border defence strategy” at Thammasat University’s Faculty of Liberal Arts.

After the talk, Akkharaphong Khamkhun, a former dean of the Pridi Banomyong International College, handed the general a list of questions and documents concerning the maps used to delineate the border between Thailand and Cambodia. A post on Facebook also listed his questions, which included a request for Lt Gen Boonsin to explain the 1:50,000 map of the disputed area and a document detailing the Survey Department’s watershed line in the disputed areas. He also asked whether an investigation has been conducted into a fire at the Trimook Pavillion at Chong Bok on 28 May and  if so, what the results were. In another question, he noted that a gas station hit by Cambodian artillery shells lies along a trajectory for shells aimed at the 23^rd Ranger Regiment Task Force and asked the Commander what his thoughts were as this detail was not reported.

In addition, Akkharapong raised a question posed by Supalak Ganjanakhundee, an academic and former journalist, who asked how much territory the military took over, and whether it was worth the lives of 15 civilians and 17 soldiers, as well as the loss of civilian property and income from border economy.

Lt Gen Boonsin was reportedly also given books by students, including a book by history lecturer Onanong Thippimol on military reform in post-Suharto Indonesia, and Niti Eoseewong’s book on the culture that shapes the role of the military in Thailand.