The Student Gangs of Bangkok

[PeterRS]

There are probably gangs in most major cities. Many are violent. It may come as a surprise that there are deadly rivalries between student gangs in Bangkok - notably Technical Colleges. When I say "deadly", that is precisely what I mean. Few if any tourists and residents will be aware of them but they are to be found near at least one major shopping mall – MBK. This report from Channel News Asia formed the basis of a TV documentary shown some months ago. It is almost frightening.

 

BANGKOK: Vocational student Kamonwich Suwanthat was interning at a multinational logistics company and was a few months away from graduation. His parents were certain his education would change the family’s fortunes. Until then, the 24-year-old was also helping his mother to make ends meet by selling noodles at her roadside market stall on most nights. That was where, on Oct 12, a stranger shot him four times, point-blank, and fled. The fourth-year student bled to death in front of a crowd and his mother. She did not realise it then, but his place of study was the reason he was targeted — by a school gang.

The three students arrested a month later told the police they had no personal dispute with him, and gave this statement: “He was chosen simply because he can be killed in the same way his schoolmates killed our senior.” They were from the Pathumwan Institute of Technology located just one kilometre from the victim’s school, the Rajamangala University of Technology Tawan-ok, Uthenthawai Campus.

Deadly violence between vocational students with a potentially bright future is common in Thailand. In Bangkok alone, there are years when more than 1,000 cases of brawls have been reported by mid-year. And the rivalry that cost Kamonwich his life is a seven-decade, tit-for-tat grudge between two schools in the same neighbourhood as the MBK Centre, the giant shopping complex popular with tourists.

“Once I knew it was a school rivalry, I knew the (shooter) couldn’t be anyone else but a student from the institute nearby,” said Thai Rath TV crime journalist Nattapong Riabsantia . . .

When Thai youths leave high school, they are separated into general or vocational education tracks. Those who pick the latter enrol at one of Thailand’s 416 vocational institutes to learn trade-specific skills. Pathumwan Institute of Technology is one of them. The 87-year-old school trains future mechanics, technicians and electricians, among other trades. Despite its notoriety, this is where 19-year-old Nim chose to study electrical engineering “because what I learn will allow me to find work back in my hometown”.

Her first semester, however, shows how the troublemaking can start. She signed up for a welcome camp that turned out to be a hazing experience — a rite of passage centred on loyalty to the school that brought the students together. These camps, organised by the seniors without official sanction, are common in many Thai colleges and last mostly a week to a month. But at Pathumwan Institute, there can be such activities for the whole semester. Nim (her nickname) gave up after two weeks. But those who endure get a “special’ T-shirt with the school crest, which they wear like a badge of honour. And that invites danger.

Benz, a fourth-year senior, said: “When we wear a school shirt with a logo, it’s very easy for us to spot who wants to fight or who wants to have power over us.” To students like him, however, the school crest is a way to gain respect.

Fees for vocational colleges are heavily subsidised, so they attract students from poorer areas that rely on agriculture. They often must leave their families living outside the city but get a chance to be initiated into a tight-knit fraternity. “Being part of this helps me to overcome an inferiority complex,” admitted Benz.

Third-year student Pae added: “We’re like family. The minute I step in, someone will greet (me) and ask if I’ve eaten … ‘Do you have money for food? I’ll give you money.’”

As new members learn to beware of students from a long-standing rival school, it is often their sense of loyalty and belonging that drives them to acts of violence.

Pathumwan old boy and former army soldier Sompode Subpradit would know. He was expelled from the school 50 years ago for taking part in violent brawls. Now that he is retired, he “always” visits the school, and the students see him as an elder brother. Having listened to them, he said: “Sometimes the love and bond between friends and juniors is the reason for the violence. “If a junior student is attacked by a student from the rival school, the seniors would be sad and would take revenge to protect the school’s pride.”

Over the years, the authorities have tried all kinds of measures to stop school gangs, from sending offenders to army boot camps to discipline them, to holding outreach programmes. Even a nationwide oath of peace, taken by almost a million vocational students in honour of King Bhumibol Adulyadej when he died in 2016, has not ended the inter-school violence.

At Pathumwan Institute, students have worn a standard vocational college uniform since 1975, which many other colleges have also adopted. This uniform does not have the school logo, making its students indistinguishable from others. They are also told to be cautious, and the rules do include not allowing them to wear the school’s logo or colours outside the school grounds, in a bid to prevent rival students from identifying them. But it is clear that there are renegades flaunting their school crest. And the Thai police continue to enter the fray to stop the bloodshed.

“Typically (from past cases), students use knives to stab each other. They’d grab the rival’s neck and stab him,” said Suppression Squad Leader Sarun Ausub from the Pathumwan District Police Station. “If we (the police) aren’t there to check on them, they may stab each other to death. That’s happened before.” A clash in August 2017, for example, which happened outside the MBK Centre, left one student dead after he was stabbed. Since then, the police and both schools have come together with a plan to stop these brawls . . .

The Kingdom faces a shortage of technical and vocational workers. And violence among schools only pushes parents to steer clear of vocational education for their children, even though for some, their livelihood from farming now brings dismal returns.

Pae is one of those from a rural area. He has been suspended for one and a half years for staring rival students down. But he has not given up on studying, “no matter how rebellious” he is. “It’s my dream to study here,” he said. “I’m poor. My mother is poor. If I don’t try, I won’t be able to survive.”

Kamonwich, on the other hand, lost that chance simply because his profile — most likely picked out via social media — was similar to a Pathumwan old boy who was killed while selling food with his aunt.

Mr Nattapong, who interviewed Kamonwich’s parents, said: “I could tell they were so sad from their eyes, because they’d just lost the son who’d have one day been a tower of strength for the family. “I’ll never understand (why vocational students fight). I can’t believe they kill each other because of reasons that are nonsense. The students shouldn’t die like this, because some of them really want to study peacefully."

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/cnainsider/shopping-haven-mbk-bangkok-thailand-deadliest-school-rivalries-11547204

[spoon]

Reading the news remind me a lot of Sotus. 

[reader]

For those unfamiliar with SOTUS, it was a popular Thai TV series in 2016-2017.  According to Wikipedia, it is an adaptation of the novel SOTUS: พี่ว้ากตัวร้ายกับนายปีหนึ่ง by Bittersweet. The title SOTUS refers to the S.O.T.U.S. [th] system which Kongpob (Prachaya Ruangroj) and his fellow freshmen have to undergo to be recognized by the hazing team, led by third-year student Arthit (Perawat Sangpotirat), as their official junior students. As the activities unfold, the two groups go through a series of conflicts and reconciling, and the friendship and love among them gradually flourish.

In early March 2017, a sequel of the series entitled SOTUS S: The Series was announced where both Perawat and Prachaya will reprise their roles. The sequel premiered on 9 December 2017 and was followed by a spin-off on Our Skyy (2018)

[vinapu]

7 hours ago, spoon said:

Reading the news remind me a lot of Sotus. 

there's also short movie ' Is my classmate  a gay" on Gthai movies triggering the same problem described in Op , senseless hostility to a gut just because he is from other school. One of main characters asked why , responds ' because it's old tradition', nicely underlining idiocy of the whole problem

[bucky13]

And yet an entire year's worth of BKK tragedy can barely hold a candle to a typical SouthSide Chitown weekend...  

[Patanawet]

Only a few years ago almost daily reports in the Post of Bangkok vocational students in shooting incidents on Bangkok busses.

Haven't seen it for ages now.