This Thursday Oct 6, Thammasat University, Chulalongkorn University and Kasetsart University will host commemorative events to mark the 40th anniversary of the 1976 Thammasat University Massacre.

The horrific event saw around a hundred student activists killed and some 3,000 arrested by military forces amid accusations of lese majeste and communism following a protest triggered by the return of military dictator Thanom Kittikachorn to the country.

On top of Thammasat University itself, Chulalongkorn University and Kasetsart University will also join in the commemoration to provide their own perspectives of the event, including how students in their respective universities were also victims of the massacre. 

Here's a closer look at what's going on in each of them:

Thammasat University: "40 Years after the 6th October Massare, is it All Forgotten: For the Dead, the Living and for the Futuer of our Society"

Oct 6-8 

The university's Tha Phra Chan campus hosts three days of theater performances, live music and academic discussions on the massacre including topics such as “Conflict and Culture of Impunity in Thai Society",  “Class Struggle and Politics of Royalist Mass," and “Same Violations but New Concealment of Truth,” to name a few.

There will also be special screenings of documentaries and movies about the massacre, including 40 Years of Silence, Respectfully Yours, Democracy After Death and Silence-Memories. The highlight event on Oct 6, dubbed "Voice from Silence" will invite relatives of victims from the event to share their opininons. 

Chulalongkorn University: "The 40 Years of 6 Oct. The New Generation Commemoration"

Oct 6

This is the first time Chula has held an event to commemorate the massacre. It will feature TED Talk-style events inviting students and celebrities involved in social issues as guest speakers, with the highlight being Hong Kong's Umbrella Movement leader Joshua Wong. 

In the days leading up to the event, the movies Time in the Bottle, October Sonata and 14 October: War of People will also be screened for free on campus. 

Kasetsart University: "You Wrote, You Erased But We Remember: The 6 October Through Memories of Kasetsart People"

Oct 5

With a focus on student activists in Thai politics, the university holds a variety of academic discussions under topics including "The 6 October in Traditional Textbooks," "Sociology and Anthropology of Memory in the 6 October Event",  "The 6 October’s Implications for Current Student Movement" and "KU Student Union on the 6 October," with speakers including both students and professors from the university. 

In related news, Bangkok will see the launch of Anocha Suwichakornpong's movie Dao Khanong (By the Time It Gets Dark) this December, a dramatic film following the lives of people loosely connected by the Thammasat Massacre in a layered narrative that blends fiction and reality. Having premiered at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland and screened in Busan, London, Montreal and Hong Kong, the film's debut in Thailand at the end of this year will put a modern day perspective on the horrific events of the massacre.