Thailand Made A Ban On Foreign Student Demonstrations, Suspected Of Preventing The Escalation Of The Myanmar Coup Protests

Myanmar military coup demonstration. (Twitter / @ David_Khaing_)

JAKARTA - The Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) is the first campus in Thailand to prohibit foreign students from participating in political demonstrations. The prohibition states that foreign students studying at AIT will have their visas revoked if they are caught participating in a political demonstration.

Launching Reuters, Wednesday, March 10, the warning was delivered by AIT so that students do not participate in anti-government protests. Demonstrations against a coup in Myanmar, for example.

In recent times, many foreign students have participated in demonstrations. This is because students from Myanmar have a large population in Thailand.

"We all have to respect the laws and policies of the host country Thailand," the message of the AIT emailed read.

"We strongly urge members of the AIT community to pay attention to the messages issued by the Thai government," added the message.

Even so, the memo did not directly mention the Myanmar coup protests. However, the message covers all demonstration activities in Bangkok, including at the embassy and elsewhere.

However, a spokesman for the Thai government, Anucha Burapachaisri, said there was no direct order issued by the immigration bureau regarding sanctions for foreign students who participated in demonstrations. Likewise, a spokesperson for the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tanee Sangrat, revealed that the problem was only a communication error.

The same statement was also revealed by Police Colonel Charoenpong Khantilo. According to him, despite concerns, no threats have been made to revoke visas and blacklist foreign students.

"We are concerned about their safety and worried that they will get involved in wrongdoing for participating in the protests. We never want to limit students' freedom of expression," said Charoenpong.