Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal

After he was stripped of the position of the president of the student council, Netiwit and his colleagues founded Sam Nak Nisit Sam Yan Publishing (SCPH), non-profit publisher, with the aim of publishing students’ books and Thai translations of foreign political and philosophical works concerning with human rights and democratic ideas. In the statement on SCPH website, it emphasizes to bridge knowledge from the ‘east’ and ‘west’ together in order to promote a secure foundation for upholding human rights both in and out of Thailand as well as the mean to strengthen communication between professors, students and the general public.

Netiwit is one of the outspoken activists who against Thai Junta both on his Facebook and in the public. In 2018, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) filed a police complaint against him and six activists for being leaders of the protest and accused them, along with thirty-two other protesters, of violating the 2015 Public Assembly Act., which might cost him 7 – 9 years in jail.

In 2018, Netiwit was announced as 1 of 50 Asians to watch in public and social sector by the Straits Times as an honor to his social works, especially on democracy, education and military conscription.

Netiwit and seven other members of the student council walked out of an oath-giving ceremony requiring them to prostrate in front of a statue of King Rama VI in symbolic protest. As a result, one of the members was assaulted by a professor, Reungwit Bunjongrat, and the protesting members had their "behavioural scores" cut by the university as punishment. Subsequently, this led to the members, including Netiwit, being removed from their position on the student council. Netiwit has since received support from academics and activists internationally, including the Nobel Prize laureate Roald Hoffmann, the scholar and political activist Noam Chomsky, and the Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker. In January 2018, seven Nobel laureates sent a petition to Chulalongkorn University to appeal for Netiwit and his seven friends and to criticize the university.

On 25 January 2018, Netiwit joined as an observer in an anti-junta protest organized by the Democracy Restoration Group (DRG) in the subway close to the MBK Center. On 29 January, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) filed a police complaint against him and six activists for being leaders of the protest and accused them, along with thirty-two other protesters, of violating the 2015 Public Assembly Act.

On 10 February 2018, Netiwit joined as an observer in an anti-junta protest "Stop power Stop late election time up NCPO. start Democracy" in Mac Donald near Democracy Monument. Next week, he has been accused for violating the 2015 Public Assembly Act and disturbing peace in the country. The case is still not ruled by the court.

On 24 March 2018, Metiwit joined as an activity of Thammasart University and Royal Thai Army. He has been one of the 57 people accusing by the police for violating the 2015 Public Assembly Act and disturbing peace in the country. The case is still not ruled by the court.

On 22 May 2018, Netiwit joined as a protester calling the Junta to give the general election to Thai people, and resign from the government. In that day, the protesters went to protest in front of the United Nation headquarter in Bangkok. Netiwit did not go there. However, next week he had been accused by the police for violating the 2015 Public Assembly Act and disturbing peace in the country. The case is still not ruled by the court.

In May 2018, the Humboldt University student council stated the public statement on the official website calling on university leaders and student representatives in Germany to stand with him and asking the Thai government to drop all charges against him and others immediately.

Joshua Wong, a prominent activist, said about the publishing as ‘Sam Nak Nisit Samyang Publishing offers to youngsters of Thai a lesson on how to confront authoritarian oppression under a hard-line policy of the regime’

Netiwit has written many books on the Thai education he experienced in general and his school in particular; His well-known book is ‘A Bad Student In an Excellent Educational System’ concerning his struggle in high school. He also wrote the opinion on Thai politics, and on Chinese abusing human rights of Uighurs, Hong Kong and Tibetans. In 2018, he wrote a pamphlet called ‘I Can Love My Country Without Having to be Drafted’ explaining why he think the enforced conscription in Thailand is obsolete. Netiwit translated Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail and Liu Xiaobo's Second June Hunger Strike Declaration to raise funds for the twenty-first birthday of his friend Joshua Wong, who was in jail at the time. Netiwit has also 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 with false PR. He also translated ‘On Tyranny’ by Timothy Snyder as well as work of Vaclav Havel, Thomas Paine, Noam Chomsky and Tony Judt. Netiwit stated his opinion against Chinese abusing human rights of minorities he launched his Thai translated book 'I Have No Enemies' the first collected essays of the late Liu Xiaobo, Chinese dissidents, in which Joshua Wong and Perry Link wrote the forward, and translated work on Uighur devastating situation in China.

In July 2016, Netiwit and a friend caused controversy by refusing to prostrate before the statue of King Rama V at an annual Chulalongkorn University event citing that King Rama V himself abolished the act. He received both praise and criticism from the act, notably the ire of General Prayut Chan-o-cha, leader of Thailand's junta. Netiwit has also spoken out against hazing in a common Thai initiation tradition known as "rub nong" (Thai: รับน้อง ; RTGS: rap nong ; IPA: [ráp nɔ́ːŋ] ).

In 2016, Netiwit personally invited activist Joshua Wong to speak at an event commemorating the 1976 Thammasat University massacre. Wong was detained for twelve hours upon entering Thailand but managed to speak to attendees via Skype after being deported. In May 2017, Netiwit was elected as Student Council President at Chulalongkorn University.

Education for Liberation of Siam was formed in December 2013 by Netiwit and other student activists. Netiwit serves as the first secretary of the organization. The purpose of the group is to provide a platform for student activism and disseminating questionable actions and misconduct by authority figures in the Thai education system. In 2014, under the secretary general Nattanan Warintarawet, the organization gained prominence for protesting against educational reforms put in place by the Junta.

In 2012, Netiwit and a group of fellow students formed TERA (Thailand Education Revolution Alliance). A student-led organization, TERA aimed to pressure education authorities to reform the Thai education system. This includes abolishing of the strict uniform codes, increasing the quality of teachers and the curriculum, reducing rote-style education, and increasing the number of public schools. Netiwit gained public recognition after appearing on a television program to speak about the organization and its cause.

Netiwit 'Frank' Chotiphatphaisal (Thai: เนติวิทย์ โชติภัทร์ไพศาล ; born 10 September 1996) is a Thai student activist, librarian, conscientious objector, publisher, and author. He is also a founder of TERA (Thailand Educational Revolution Alliance) and Education for Liberation of Siam. Both groups aim to reform the Thai education system.

Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal was born 10 September 1996 in Bangkok, Thailand. He is the second child of a middle-class family of shopkeepers, growing up in Samut Prakan Province.

The first work published by SCPH was the book published during Joshua Wong was in jail due to his conviction overturned by the Hong Kong court in October 2017. The book, Time is on our side: A birthday book for Joshua Wong’, which translated by Netiwit himself, contained translated essays from Martin Luther King Jr. ( Letter from Birmingham Jail) and Liu Xiaobo (Tiananmen Square: The hunger strike declaration, 2 June 1989), as well as a translated interview with Joshua Wong. After that SCPH has published the work of philosopher such as Isaiah Berlin, Liu Xiaobo, Cass Sunstein, Timothy Snyder, Vaclav Havel, Rebecca Solnit as well as many activism work.