Senior students at an unknown vocational college have an unusual method of welcoming freshmen students to higher education: they humiliate them by setting fire to their asses.
Thai social networks have been full of discussion about recent controversial photos on Facebook showing what is said to be part of the “rub nong,” or freshmen welcoming ritual.
The photos show about 10 shirtless teenage boys engaged in a series of humiliating activities, including a photo of a boy having flames sprayed on his buttocks.
Other photos show the new recruits being forced to lie on the ground with their hands tied around their back and doing push-ups in water.
The user who posted the photos, PangPondSiamGear, said to be a student behind the hazing, also posted a video of the freshmen being told by their “Roon Pee,” or the elder students, to transfer food between each other’s mouths for the amusement of their elders.
After the pictures went viral and received several negative comments, the user told those who “live in a blindly optimistic world” to go away before shutting down his Facebook page to escape the criticism.
“I don’t care if the rub nong ritual teaches freshmen of the seniority concept. Roon pee are only students who enroll before freshmen. Some freshmen are even older than them. If the roon pee want respect, they have to be respectful. Idiots!” a top-rated comment under the video said.
In Thailand, college and university freshmen usually have to go through a welcoming ritual. The purpose of the activities is mainly to create bonds between new students and teach them to value seniority, a concept widely practiced in the country.
Most universities’ rub nong ceremonies are conducted within the institute, under supervision of teachers, but often students organize a trip to the beach to do their own rituals, which sometimes include violence.
Last year a 16-year-old freshman from a college in Pathum Thani died at the beachside ritual after allegedly being kicked into the water. Another female student of the famous Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University came forward after being burned during the long-running “candle burning tradition.”
While such ceremonies are not mandatory, most freshmen are pressured into participating as not doing so carries the risk of being socially excluded, blacklisted or literally “banned” by other students.
Related:
Burned by peers, student reports sadistic university hazing to police
Students dump dead freshman at hospital after seaside hazing
