Uthenthawai engineering faculty closes for 3 days after MBK fistfight

Assoc Prof Thongpoon Thasiphet, dean of the faculty, issued an order instructing lecturers to cancel classes from Tuesday to Thursday. The order specified that students were prohibited from entering the faculty during the three days.

The decision was prompted by “an untoward incident in front of the MBK Centre shopping mall” on Monday evening.

At about 6pm on Monday, some 80 students from Uthenthawai and the Pathumwan Institute of Technology (PIT) engaged in fist fights on the BTS skywalk outside MBK Centre, causing panic among shoppers.

The feud between PIT and Uthenthawai Campus students has a long-standing complex history. This ongoing cycle of animosity and revenge appears to have deep roots, likely originating from the competition between the two well-known vocational schools in Bangkok, that offer similar courses in construction, technology and mechanics.

In an incident on November 11, two Uthenthawai students fatally shot a PIT student in front of the Sacred Heart Convent School. A stray bullet from the shooting also killed a female teacher from the school.

A subsequent police investigation later revealed that former and current PIT students had organised a gang to target Uthenthawai students to seek revenge for previous deaths. Several suspects have been arrested in connection with these incidents.

The latest violent clash is expected to add further urgency to Chulalongkorn University’s efforts to push the Uthenthawai Campus off its land.

The Supreme Administrative Court ruled on December 14, 2022, that Uthenthawai must move out of CU’s property within 60 days, but the campus has vowed to stay put.