thai history, though, carries ominous warnings for today's students... ..especially here at thammasatversities. the king has come here to hand out diplomas to graduates... ..keeping up a long tradition which helps build a bond between the monarchy and younger generations. but in this era of dissent, not everyone is following the official script. this innocuous little ceremony on the sidelines of the main graduation proceedings here at thammasat is actually a pretty extraordinary act of defiance, something almost unthinkable even a year ago. these young people have been symbolically taking their diplomas from these cardboard cutouts who are of some of the most notorious anti—monarchy activists, many of them in exile, instead of taking it from the king — a harmless enough gesture, you might think, but the sports field behind them tells a different story. reporter: the assault began just after daybreak. _ and for an hour, there i was firing, with all sorts of weapons being used. 44 years ago, police and vigilantes attacked this campus with savage force, after students had been accused of