We, the foreign students and alumni of Chulalongkorn University (CU), are concerned about CU's handling of an incident which took place on August 3rd, 2017.

Universities seeking to become globally competitive must subscribe to international standards. We find it unacceptable for student representatives to be removed from their positions by staff members. They were appointed by and represent the students.

Furthermore, we believe any lecturer who assaults students should be fired without delays or excuses. If this behavior is allowed to go unchecked, there’s no reason why students are safe from assault at CU.

We expect CU to fall in the World University Rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) and Times Higher Education as a result of incidents such as this being mishandled. "International Outlook" and similar criteria are important parts of these rankings. We expect the number of foreigners wanting to study and work at CU to decline as a result of this incident.

Foreign students come to study at CU, at least in part, because of assurances this university conforms to international standards.

Our suggestion is for CU to reconsider its long-term goals and overturn its decision regarding this incident. Those who commit physical violence toward students must also be held fully responsible.

Nitiwit leads other student activists in the walkout from the university initiation ceremony (Photo from Netiwit’s Facebook account )

1. Reid Kirchenbauer, Full-Time Student, U.S.A

2. Roope Nykanen, Full-Time Student, Finland

3. Tuukka Oksala, Exchange Student, Finland

4. Grace Chua, Exchange Student, Singapore

5. Soeren Kraemer, Exchange Student, Germany

6. Jeffery Huang, Exchange Student, Singapore

7. Basil Schuerch, Exchange Student, Switzerland

8. Linn Be, Exchange Student, Vietnam

9. Berenike Stehmann, Exchange Student, Germany

10. Salome Schwarz, Exchange Student, Germany

11. Jon Gustavsen, Exchange Student, Norway

12. Melanie Lau, Exchange Student, Canada

13. Luciano Voigt, Exchange Student, Germany

14. Theo Landon, Exchange Student, U.K.