Thailand Abolishes Longstanding Regulations on Students' Hairstyles After Half a Century
The Breakdown of Stiff Hairstyle Regulations: A Victory for Thailand's Students
The crisp morning air still hung heavy with sleep as the horde of students, all clad in identical uniforms and meticulously groomed hairstyles, lined up before the flagpole of their Bangkok high school. One amongst the sea of 3,600 students was Baramee Chaovawanich, the eighth grader infamously known as "Khao Klong".
It was a daily gathering, a ritual, where teachers would inspect each and every student as part of their monthly check-up, scrutinizing their attire and appearance. That day, Khao Klong's long hair, flaunting the rules by a handful of centimeters, caught the eye of a teacher. Khao Klong was singled out, forced to endure a hasty and humiliating haircut in front of the entire school.
"There was a sense of shame, like a child being pointed at, ridiculed, ostracized, and exposed visually," said Khao Klong, now 20 and pursuing his university studies. He still remembered the laughter that followed, the isolation he felt, a feeling echoed in the countless students who had suffered a similar fate for decades.
Thai schools had held a grip on strict regulations of their students' appearances, often going beyond the typical dress codes seen in other countries, with boys mandated to sport an army-like crew cut and girls restricted to ear-length bobs. These policies, implanted in 1975 under the government of Thanon Kittikachorn, refused to loosen their hold even as the times changed.
The scene had finally begun to shift in March, when the highest Thai court, in a historic verdict, declared the regulations unconstitutional. The regulations were accused of imposing excessive restrictions on personal freedom, thus violating the Thai Constitution. The ruling further stated that the 50-year-old regulations did not align with contemporary social conditions, inflicting harm on the mental health of students during their developmental years, and especially for students identifying outside of the binary.
The decision was a long time coming, following nationwide student protests in 2020 that put the issue centre stage, prompting the education ministry to grant schools the autonomy to institute their own rules.
The news was met with unrestrained joy by students, who had long yearned for the freedom to express themselves through their appearance. "Things have changed, especially regarding hairstyles," said 16-year-old Nijchaya Kraisriwattana in April. She, too, had been punished for noncompliance in the past and was now grateful for the schools that had relaxed their rules.
Yet, apprehensions persist amongst others, who fear that schools may persist in imposing stringent guidelines and punishments without government intervention. "At first, I was elated at the news, but then people started analyzing it," Khao Klong said. "It seems like there are still gaps, which makes me a bit worried, as it doesn't seem all that different from before."
The student activists, Khao Klong included, still haven't witnessed significant changes in their schools, they said. They have grown weary, their fight for change increasingly overshadowed by a sea of responsibilities, jobs, and daily life. But the knowledge that their voices were heard and, in a way, validated by the court ruling continues to give them hope.
"I hope we can return to discussing rights and freedoms in every school, issues of oppression, or authoritarianism," Khao Klong said.
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Though it can be hard to understand the roots of these rigid policies, they reflect Thailand's conservative, hierarchical Buddhist society, shaped over the years by authoritarian rule. The military's influence runs deep in Thailand, a constitutional monarchy that has seen a dozen successful coups since 1932, with the most recent coup taking place in 2014. These student dress code regulations were originally drafted during the decade-long dictatorship of Thanom Kittikachorn, which came to an end in 1973 following a violent uprising.
However, the military's conservative influence on education extends beyond hair policies and dress codes. Khao Klong recalled enduring punishment such as regular beatings and strict adherence to uniform policies, which even dictated the types of socks and shoes he could wear.
In its ruling, the court acknowledged this line of thinking, pointing out that the hairstyle regulations had aimed to cultivate students as "future responsible citizens", emphasizing the need for close supervision by parents and teachers to ensure they adhered to societal norms and laws.
You can read more about the impact of authoritarianism on Thai education and the role of the military in shaping these policies in this article.
- The historic court verdict in Thailand, striking down the strict hairstyle regulations, not only signals a victory for education and self-development but also has implications for politics and general news, as it challenges authoritarianism and traditional societal norms.
- The recent ruling towards more liberal hairstyle policies in Thai schools reflects a larger conversation about individual freedoms, personal rights, and the role of the government in education, particularly in the context of Thailand's conservative and hierarchical Buddhist society, where politics and education have long been intertwined.
