Following a heavily criticized video of what certainly looks like a freshman hazing ritual, the dean of Bangkok’s Phranakhon Rajabhat University yesterday was forced to explain that a clip of a boy kissing his friend’s (underwear-clad) bottom was not part of the school’s freshman orientation nor had he been forced to do it.
The video, posted Saturday, shows a teen boy planting his lips on the other boy’s bum in what appears to be a dorm room. Anti Sotus, an Facebook page that advocates against hazing, published the clip and described it as a “twisted way” for the boy to introduce himself to his upperclassmen.
Anti Sotus identified the boy as a first-year marketing student from Phranakhon Rajabhat University.
At a press conference yesterday, Dean Pattapong Jankuang explained that it’s a tradition among marketing students that freshmen should introduce themselves to their upperclassmen on Facebook. Pattapong said that the boy in the clip told the university that he was not hazed into making a video kissing his friend’s bottom in any way — it was all his idea. Mmm’kay.
Many freshmen prefer making a video of themselves singing or dancing as a creative way to introduce themselves, Pattapong said.
The dean said that since the video has gone viral, many guardians have expressed concerns about the university’s freshman orientation. He apologized for what happened and said the school will strictly monitor future orientation-week activities.
The university is also pondering an acceptable punishment for the boys in the video, reported MThai News.
Although freshman initiation rituals are not mandatory (strictly speaking), young students are often pressured by their peers to participate, and the activities often get out of control.
In 2015, photos of a student having flames sprayed on his bottom went viral on social media. A year later, Ramkhamhaeng University was in hot water following the alleged abuse of freshmen, as a teen girl had to brush her teeth with chili paste, while another boy was dragged around in a trash bin.
