"It's against government policy, which actually wants to reduce the number of civil servants," Wijit said.

Currently, some of Silpakorn University's lecturers are university officials while many others are civil servants.

According to Wijit, by becoming autonomous institutes the university lecturers have a better chance of earning better pay because their salary will no longer be based on the civil-servant salary scale - which is lower than those at private companies.

However, civil servants enjoy some other benefits that company workers do not have.

For example, civil servants' parents can receive free medical treatment.

On Tuesday, Silpakorn University held a seminar that addressed the ongoing plan to turn many state universities into autonomous institutes.

At the seminar, Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva called on the government to suspend the plan, and start seriously working on the flat-rate subsidies for university students as well as lecturers' rights and liberties.

"He might have forgotten that he [Abhisit] is involved in the drafting of this law," noted Wijit, adding that he had never forced any state university to embrace autonomy.

Students and lecturers who oppose the plan to transform their universities into autonomous institutes should talk to their university's administrators.

Supinda Na Mahachai

The Nation