Thammasat University massacre

Thammasat University massacre
Location	Thammasat University and Sanam Luang in Bangkok, Thailand
Date	6 October 1976
Target	Student protesters
Deaths	46 (official); more than 100 (unofficial)
Non-fatal injuries	167 (official)
Perpetrators	Royal Thai Armed Forces Royal Thai Police Village Scouts Nawaphon Red Gaur

The Thammasat University massacre (in Thailand known simply as "the 6 October event", Thai: เหตุการณ์ 6 ตุลา rtgs: het kan hok tula) was an attack by Thai state forces and far-right paramilitaries on student protesters on the campus of Thammasat University and the adjacent Sanam Luang Square in Bangkok, Thailand on 6 October 1976. Prior to the massacre, four to five thousand students from various universities had demonstrated for more than a week against the return to Thailand from Singapore of former military dictator Thanom Kittikachorn.

A day before the massacre, the Thai press reported on a play staged by student protesters the previous day, which allegedly featured the mock hanging of then Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn. In response to this rumored outrage, military and police as well as paramilitary forces surrounded the university. Just before dawn on 6 October, the attack on the student protesters began and continued until noon. To this day, the number of casualties remains in dispute between the Thai government and survivors of the massacre. According to the government, 46 died in the killings, with 167 wounded and 3,000 arrested. Many survivors claim that the death toll was well over 100.

The 14 October 1973 uprising overthrew the unpopular Thanom regime and saw him flee Thailand together with General Praphas Charusathien and General Narong Kittikachorn, collectively known as the "three tyrants". Growing unrest and instability from 1973 to 1976, as well as the fear of communism from neighboring countries spreading to Thailand and threatening the interests of the monarchy and the military, convinced the latter to bring former leaders Thanom and Praphas back to Thailand to control the situation. In response to Praphas's return on 17 August, thousands of students demonstrated at Thammasat University for four days until a clash with Red Gaur and Nawaphon toughs left four dead. On 19 September, Thanom returned to Thailand and headed straight from the airport to Wat Bowonniwet Vihara, where he was ordained as a monk in a private ceremony. Massive anti-Thanom protests broke out as the government faced an internal crisis after Prime Minister Seni Pramoj's attempt to tender his resignation was rejected by the Thai Parliament. On 25 September, in Nakhon Pathom, west of Bangkok, two activists putting up anti-Thanom posters were beaten to death and hung from a wall, an outrage that was soon established to be the work of Thai police. A dramatization of this hanging was staged by student protesters at Thammasat University on 4 October. Deliberately or unfortunately, the student at the end of the garrote bore a resemblance to Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn. The following day, as Seni struggled to put together his cabinet, the newspaper Dao Siam (ดาวสยาม) published a photograph of the mock hanging on its front page. With the tacit approval of King Bhumibol, announcers on army-controlled radio stations accused the student protesters of lèse-majesté and mobilized the king's paramilitary forces, the Village Scouts, Nawaphon, and Red Gaurs to "kill the communists". At dusk on 5 October, some 4,000 people from these paramilitary forces as well as military and police personnel gathered outside Thammasat University where student protesters had been protesting for weeks. This set the scene for the Thammasat University massacre the following day. ..