Students can now choose their hairstyles, court rules

After many years of fight against the authorities, students in Thailand can now lower their hair. Literally.

On Wednesday, the Thai Supreme Administrative Court canceled the 50-year-old ministry’s directive, which previously outlined the rules of the hairstyles for schoolchildren: short hair for boys and ears for girls.

In practice, in many schools, the hairstyles are gradually relaxing. But some still used the directive issued in 1975 as a benchmark and would reduce the hair of students who did not follow.

The 1975 directive violated the freedoms of individuals defending the Constitution and did not contact today’s society, the court said.

The court’s decision this week came in response to the petition filed by 23 students of state schools in 2020, which claimed that the 1975 directive was unconstitutional.

Student activists have long agitated that the rules of hairstyles be relaxed, saying that it violates their human dignity and personal freedom over their body.

One of them is Panthen Alultanus, who recently graduated from the university.

“In the eyes such as we, such as we, then … Although it seemed impossible, we wanted to do something,” he said the BBC. “If no student in the history of Thai has arisen to dispute the strength of the adults who have suppressed us, it will be a lifetime embarrassment.”

In response to such companies, the Ministry of Education in 2020 allowed students to have longer hairstyles – but there were some restrictions left. Hair for boys could not cover the neck neck, while girls with long hair had to tie it.

These rules were recalled in 2023, and then the Education Minister Trinukh Tinthong announced that students, parents and school authorities should agree on their own common soil on the fact that it is acceptable for hairstyles in their schools.

But through all these changes, some schools continued to monitor the standard outlined in the original 1975 directive.

Schools are traditionally associated with short hair with discipline and collapsibility – an argument that is repeated by many social media users this week. But in recent years, reports of schools banning bangs or dyed hair have caused public resonance on Thailand.

In some parts of the country, teachers are known to burn the hair of students during the morning assembly to punish them for walking hairstyles. This practice continues even when education bodies warned teachers from this.

In January, the Ministry of Education once again confirmed that it abolished the restrictions on the length of the hair for all students, saying that it had acknowledged “the importance of promoting diversity and justice in all aspects of education.”

The court’s decision on Wednesday, which also states that the rules of the school hairstyles should take into account the freedom and dignity of the students, again confirms the official impetus to leave the hair choice for the students themselves.

But Pantin said the decade of the decade “still leaves a hole for schools to set its own rules.” In cases where schools have more conservative management, he suggested that the restrictions could remain in place.

However, Panten said that “I felt the joy that what I saw and fought all the time was recognized and significant progress has taken place.”

“I hope the ruling of this court will set a new standard for understanding fundamental human rights at school.”