An attempt of a group of Chula students to protest against Abhisit Vejjajiva inside the university was thwarted by a lecturer and university security guards. The students called on the PM to call an early election, and take legal action against those responsible for the April-May massacre.

On 18 Aug, while Abhisit Vejjajiva was giving a speech on political decentralization to mark the anniversary of the establishment of the Faculty of Political Science of Chulalongkorn University, a group of about 7-8 students waited for him outside with a letter and placards.

The messages on some of the placards were the words of Abhisit Vejjajiva himself when he was the opposition leader. These included ‘Whether it’s one or a hundred thousand people, the government must listen’, ‘I want to see the government take a more protective role for the people’, and ‘Dissolve the House and give the power back to the people. That’s better than the government staying on and continually collapsing.’ Other messages were quotations from President John F Kennedy.

University security guards seized some of their placards, and then Weerasak Krueathep, a lecturer of the Faculty of Political Science, came to snatch the rest, scuffling with the students for a while.

‘This is not Chula here. This is my place. Sue me!’ the lecturer declared.

Weerasak Krueathep, Political Science lecturer

When Abhisit came down to the ground floor after finishing his speech, a female student in the group tried to deliver the letter to him, but was blocked by a university security guard who violently pulled her arm and pushed her against the stairway. When she called, ‘Prime Minister!’ the guard let go of her. She eventually handed the letter to Abhisit.

Abhisit and Jaras Suwannamala (bespectacled), Dean of Chula's Faculty of Political Science

In the letter, the students call for an early election and legal action against those who killed the red shirts.

They ask how reconciliation can be achieved when the government still suppresses dissent with laws like the Emergency Decree.

‘Political reform over a pool of blood is futile. The committees were set up, not by the consent of the people, but by the elite who agree with the killings. You need not think about a complicated public hearing process which wastes money. The easy solution is to hold elections to listen to the people,’ the letter says.