1. Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal, nicknamed Frank, is a Thai student activist, peace activist and human rights activist, librarian, preservationist, conscientious objector, producer, publisher, and author.
37 Facts About Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal
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Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal is a founder of TERA and Education for Liberation of Siam.
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Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal was elected as the student council president at Chulalongkorn University, but was removed from the position and had his behavior score deducted by university authorities in consequence of 2017 Chulalongkorn University incident.
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Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal is currently studying political science at Chulalongkorn University while being a librarian at the Santi Pracha Dhamma Library.
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On 31 March 2021, Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal was elected by Chulalongkorn University undergraduates to be the President of Chulalongkorn University's Student Union with a landslide victory, the highest votes received for the position and highest-turnout rate over decades.
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Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal was born in Samut Prakan province on 10 September 1996.
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Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal is the youngest child of a middle-class family of shopkeepers.
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Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal gained public recognition after appearing on a television program to speak about the organization and its cause.
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Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal received both praise and criticism from the act, notably the ire of General Prayut Chan-o-cha, leader of Thailand's junta.
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In 2016, Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal personally invited activist Joshua Wong to speak at an event commemorating the 1976 Thammasat University massacre.
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In May 2017, Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal was elected as Student Council President at Chulalongkorn University.
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Subsequently, this led to the members, including Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal, being removed from their positions on the student council.
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Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal has since received support from academics and activists internationally, including Nobel Prize laureate Roald Hoffmann, scholar and political activist Noam Chomsky, and Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker.
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Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal was the President of the Student Union in the Faculty of Political Science.
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The elections saw an unprecedented voter turnout, with Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal's party winning by a considerable majority.
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Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal asked the ministers whether they are alumni of Chulalongkorn University.
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On 25 January 2018, Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal joined as an observer in an anti-junta protest organized by the Democracy Restoration Group in the subway close to the MBK Center.
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Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal was one of 57 people accused by police of violating the 2015 Public Assembly Act and disturbing peace in the country.
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On 22 May 2018, Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal joined as a protester calling the Junta to give the general election to the Thai people and resign from the government.
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In October 2019, AIT and Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal filed a lawsuit with the Administrative Court, the defendants are the registrar for alleged abuse of power in disqualifying Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal and Interior Minister Gen Anupong Paochinda for neglect of duty for failing to deliver the appeal result in the stipulated timeframe.
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Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal hailed the Court's verdict as a pivotal move in upholding the freedom of association in Thailand and reaffirming the boundaries of state power in respect to individual rights.
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In 2014, after the Thai coup, Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal publicly announced his position as a conscientious objector on the War Resisters' International website.
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Never one to miss an opportunity for activism, Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal used these visits to raise awareness about his cause.
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Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal articulated the stark contrast between the militaristic values championed by the establishment and the pacifist principles central to Buddhism.
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Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal has been credited as a transnational activist for Thai and Hong Kong democracy movement ahead of the arrival of Milk Tea Alliance in 2020 through an invitation to Joshua Wong to speak at Chulalongkorn University in 2016 and issuing a translation of a book in support of the Hong Kong movement in 2017.
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Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal has been one or the organizer of a protest to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre in front of the Chinese embassy in Thailand since 2018.
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In 2018, Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal co-founded Humanity Beyond Borders aiming to raise funds in order to help refugees in Thailand organize activities and produce academic works to encourage knowledge and understanding of the problem of human rights violations in other countries.
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Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal has written a profile of Muay, Houayheuang Xayabouly, a Lao environmentalist who has been arrested by the Lao Government since 2019, and campaigned to release her.
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Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal has strongly against gentrification of Chulalongkorn University's neighbourhood In June 2020, He and Chulalongkorn University students demonstrated against Chulalongkorn University's decision to demolish the Chao Mae Tubtim Shrine located near the campus for building new condominiums.
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Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal criticized Chulalongkorn University for acting less like an institute of higher learning and more like a big business.
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In 2023, Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal served as the producer for "The Last Breath of Sam Yan," a documentary that delves into the students' struggle to preserve the Chao Mae Tubtim Shrine from being demolished by CHULALONGKORN UNIVERSITY.
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The book, Time is on our side: A birthday book for Joshua Wong, which was translated by Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal himself, contained translated essays from Martin Luther King Jr.
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Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal has written many books on his experience with Thai education in general and his school in particular; his most well-known book is A Bad Student In an Excellent Educational System concerning his struggles in high school.
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Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal wrote about his opinion on Thai politics and on the Chinese abusing the human rights of Uighurs, Hong Kong, and Tibetans.
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Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal has worked with his friends to translate a selection of Isaiah Berlin's essays into Thai and sent it to Deputy Police Commissioner Pol General Srivara Ransibrahmanakul which charged Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal with false PR.
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Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal translated 'On Tyranny' by Timothy Snyder as well as the work of Vaclav Havel, Thomas Paine, Noam Chomsky and Tony Judt.
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Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal published his Thai translation, I Have No Enemies, the first collected essays of the late Liu Xiaobo, Chinese dissidents, in which Joshua Wong and Perry Link wrote the foreword, and translated work on the devastating Uighur situation in China.