Strict controls on the appearance of students in Thailand

It was early in the morning when a group of Thai students lined up, wearing their unified school uniforms, all of whom had a similar and elegant hairstyle, to attend a daily gathering at the flag in their high school in Bangkok.

The eighth grade student, Paramey Choufawic, was among the 3,600 students who came to school, while the teachers were roaming between each class, and they inspected every male and female student on a random tour to follow up compliance with the rules and appearance of the dress.

After that, one of the teachers referred to Paramey, known as his family, “Khao Cloong”, that his hair is too long, and then the boy’s hair was embarrassed, and he had to move forward, and the teacher shaved Paramey’s head hair partially in front of the entire school, where he left him deliberately without completing the shaving to remain so to the end of the day deformed.

“I had a feeling of shyness, like a child who was chosen to become a mockery, and his hair was partially shaved to appear ugly.” He added, recalling how he returned to his class: “I looked at all class students and exploded laughing at me, as this scene is still firmly in my mind.”

Perhaps the punishment was exaggerated, but after years of passing this, these scenes are still common throughout Thailand, where students are subject to strict procedures about their appearance that exceeds the rules of school dress in force in other countries.

For example, male students had to cut their hair in the way of the army, and the students styling their hair in a short form that reaches the ear, before reducing the bases somewhat in 2013, when children were allowed to extend their feeling until the base of the neck, and for the blocks to lengthen their hair as long as it is tied.

The poetry of “Khao Cloong” was a few centimeters longer than it is permitted, but that was a great and unable to conquer.

And because the rules of hairstyles change significantly, the highest administrative court in Thailand, last March, canceled the directive set by the Ministry of Education in 1975, announcing its unconstitutionality.

The court order stated that the rules imposed excessive restrictions on personal freedom, violating the Thai constitution. According to the matter, the 50 -year -old regulations “were not in line with contemporary social conditions” and affected the mental health of children in the important age stages of their growth.

The court’s decision was expected after the students’ protests throughout the country, and the case returned in 2020 to the fore, and prompted the Ministry of Education to leave the matter to schools to determine its own rules.

The decision was the approval of some students, who have long wanted to express themselves freely in their external appearance.

“Things have changed a little, especially with regard to how to verify hairstyles,” said Nishaya Krisruanana, 16, noting that her school in Bangkok was carrying out searches on the appearance of students, and she was punished earlier by deleting some points from her scientific achievement due to the length of her hair, which they considered in excess of the permissible limit.

The rules were so strict that she had to tie her backward and hide her small hair strands around her face, but these days, the rules seem “more flexible”, Nishaya said.

Although it is difficult to understand the reasons why these rules are so strict, they reflect the nature of the conservative and hormonal society in Thailand, and the strict army ruled.

“The conservative influence of the army on how the appearance that students in the school will be still to this day is,” said a researcher at the Education Policy at the Development Research Institute in Thailand, adding: “It is a social value, where social values ​​indicate that students must adhere to the law and if they adhere to these rules, they will become good people.” About CNN

. Students had to cut their hair in the way of the army, while the students stole their hair in a short form.

. The highest administrative court in Thailand recognized that the rules of hairstyles imposed excessive restrictions on personal freedom.