Bangkok police fail to stop fight between rival schools
Bangkok police tried and failed to stop a fight between about 110 students from two rival schools, Thai media reported on Friday. About 60 students from Pathumwan Institute of Technology clashed with about 50 students from the Rajamangala University of Technology in the area of Bangkok’s national stadium, located in the city centre.
The Pathumwan students reportedly ran toward Rajamangala students on a skywalk, who then fled from the former group. The two groups then met in front of a building in the National Stadium’s compound and started verbally abusing each before things got physical.
News outlet TNA reported that police were deployed to the scene, but they could not prevent the fight. Both groups eventually stopped the brawl on their own and ran back to their schools.
The commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau has since met with teachers from both schools to discuss how to tackle the violent rivalry problem. The commissioner also ordered police to arrest the culprits.
School rivalry violence is nothing new in Thailand, particularly for students at vocational schools. Pathumwan Institute of Technology is an arch rival of Rajamangala’s Uthenthawai campus.
In 2016, police found two handguns and ammunition, 55 knives, six bulletproof vests, and materials for making nail bombs, on the Uthenthawai campus. Many videos show students at Uthenthawai and other vocational schools fighting each other. Sometimes, the fighting happens on public transportation routes where students run into each other. Students have been killed in drive-by shootings and train stations, and beaten and chased on streets.
SOURCE: TNA
