PRESS RELEASE:
The Rajamangala University of Technology Tawan-Ok’s Uthenthawai Campus is ordered to cease new student enrollments and accelerate its relocation due to escalating student conflicts.
The directive, announced by Higher Education Minister Supamas Isarabhakdi, follows recent violent incidents between Uthenthawai and Pathumwan Institute of Technology (PIT) students, including a fatal attack on a PIT student.
To manage student numbers and facilitate the move, no new admissions will occur for the 2024 academic year. Supamas said during an interview that the relocation is part of efforts to resolve a long-standing dispute, adhering to a Supreme Administrative Court decision for Uthenthawai to vacate Chulalongkorn University’s property, where it’s been since 1935.
Despite resistance from students, Supamas noted that the university’s small size should ease the transition. The Higher Education Minister added that security will also be heightened around the campus’s anniversary, with police on alert.
The relocation has been pending since 2002 when the Treasury Department offered land in Samut Prakan, but student protests have stalled the move despite government funding for new construction.
