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| นิตยสาร สารคดี: ฉบับที่ ๒๑๖ เดือนกุมภาพันธ์ ๒๕๔๖ | ISSN 0857-1538 | |||
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| Story: Pote Kritkraiwan | |||
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The name Komol Keemthong may not be widely recognized. Only people in their 40s could perhaps remember him as one of the two young teachers from Bangkok who were shot dead in Surat Thani during the 1970s, the height of the communist polarization. Khru Komol died when he was only 26. His short life, however, is an epitome of idealism, dedication to the public cause and the perseverance to realize that vision that every society wishing to progress could have expected from its young members. Born in Lop Buri province, the young Komol received his education from some of the best institutions the country had to offer, Suan Kularb College and Faculty of Education, Chulalongkorn University. |
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College life in the late 1960s pivoted around fun and cheerful activities, parties and sports cheering, for example. With a keen interest in social issues, however, Komol and a couple of like-minded friends set up an education club and launched publications questioning the materialistic values prevalent among students at that time. They also held forums for people to exchange opinions on various issues as well as organized rural development activities, getting university students to go out and work for villagers in other provinces. After graduation, Komol had an opportunity to continue his study towards a Master's Degree or to teach at his alma mater. The spirit of a teacher, however, burned in the young man's heart. In a letter to one of his friends, Komol wrote that: "Since being a teacher means grooming, teaching and giving people the knowledge, skills and intellectual framework so that they can live happily in the society, I would like to focus on my duty as a teacher." |
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In 1969, through his connection with the journal Withyasarn Parithas, Komol had a chance to visit a mine in Surat Thani. The mine owner wished to have a primary school for children of villagers in the area, who at that time had to walk several kilometers to attend another school. With the determination to put his knowledge to use and to contribute to the society, Komol applied to become the school's headmaster. "We lacked people who are willing to serve as the first stone to pave the way. That first stone must be laid down and buried as a foundation for other stones. Certainly, once the road was built it is the uppermost stones that would become known to the society while the first stones laid buried in the soil," Komol wrote in another of his letters. |
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With no material help but his unwavering determination, Komol built the Muang Huai Nai Khao school from scratch. He operated it on a philosophy of a community school. Children did not go there only to read and write but to learn about their community and local wisdom. Komol even asked some elders in the village who might not have a fancy degree from formal institutions but were knowledgeable or skillful in certain aspects of the rural life and culture to serve as special teachers. Komol was well aware of the fact that he lived in an area of political conflicts between the Thai state and communist insurgency but he probably never realized it would claim his life. Less than one year after working there, Komol and his friend, Ratana Sakulthai, were gunned down one evening in 1971 during a trip to survey another school. |
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Komol's many letters and writings were accumulated into a 500-page book distributed as a memento during his funeral. It has become a source of inspiration for people who believe in the same ideal. A foundation was also established in his name to carry on the young teacher's mission of triggering the thirst for knowledge in people's hearts. Now, more than ever, Khru Komol and the ideology that he believed in and pursued throughout his short but vital life, should be remembered. |