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Published on December 12, 2007

"Our rally will take place at 9am," Porpan Vachajitpan, chairwoman of the CU Lecturers Council, said yesterday.

"The drafting of the bill was rushed and the CU community was excluded from the process," she told a press conference to declare opposition to the bill.

Tul Sittisomwong, a teacher of medicine, said if the state university became an autonomous institution, its teaching staff and other personnel might have to work for money instead of work from their heart.

"If the bill is not withdrawn from the NLA before the end of this week, we're going to start a signature campaign for a petition to be submitted to His Majesty," he said. Senior Not Hemin said he, his friends and the Non-Governmental Organisation Coordinating Committee would join the rally in front of Parliament House.

Education Minister Wijit Srisa-arn said the bill would be retracted only if lawmakers rejected it in its second reading.

Tongthong Chandransu, deputy permanent secretary of the Justice Ministry and spokesman of the NLA committee vetting the bill, said CU staff need not worry about losing their civil-servant status because the bill clearly states that officials could remain as bureaucrats.

The Nation