Transgender lecturer Kath Khangpiboon has vowed to take her case to court if a Thammasat University screening committee tomorrow upholds its decision to bar her from working at the institution.
Ms Kath was accepted for a job at the university last June, but was prevented from taking up the post for nine months before having her employment offer retracted in March.
The faculty approved her credentials, but her employment was vetoed by a university screening committee.
“Between March and May 2014, I was interviewed and went through a faculty screening process that included written, psychological and lecture tests,” she said. “The assessment by the faculty committee came out as ‘very good’ across all of the tests.
“I was accepted academically by the faculty committee, yet the university committee turned me down because of something else entirely. I am convinced their decision was gender-based.”
The 29-year-old, who has a BA and MA in social work from Thammasat, said she was working as a guest lecturer at the university while waiting for approval from the screening committee after being offered the job last year.
“I heard nothing and made an inquiry in December after suspecting something had gone wrong,” she said. On March 2, the university screening committee announced they had voted Ms Kath’s application down.
She was told she would not be offered employment because of “inappropriate social media activities”.
Ms Kath will appear before the committee to defend her case for the last time tomorrow, but does not expect the decision to be overturned. The university has not made any formal comment on the matter.