After 40 years, hair regulations for students come to an end
Flowerpot haircuts and millimeter hair for boys and for girls a haircut no longer than below the earlobe was the only haircut permitted in schools since 1972. In May, the Ministry of Education scrapped the rule, although schools are free to decide whether to allow looser hair.
The issue became topical when a 2011-year-old student filed a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission in Thailand in 15. According to him, the strict rules were contrary to human rights and freedom. “Students lose confidence and concentration in their studies,” he wrote in a letter that received widespread support on social media, especially from teenagers.
And so the ball got rolling in a nation that values collectivism over individualism. From now on, boys are allowed to let their hair grow to their neck; girls are allowed to wear long hair, but they must tie it in a ponytail.
The Makutkasatriyaram school in Bangkok does not participate in that modern craziness. "Although hair style has nothing to do with education, we see it as a kind of discipline for living together in society," says director Ratchanee Prapasapong. 'It also shows that young people respect and want to preserve the traditional culture of the older generations.'
Some teachers and the elderly fear a sliding scale: letting go of the traditional hairstyle is the beginning of further breaking down the importance Thailand attaches to conformism. The objections sometimes border on the absurd. Students would be more easily distracted by the new hairstyles and some parents even think their children are attracted to the opposite sex at a younger age.
Somphong Chitradub, an education expert at Chulalongkorn University, thinks those ideas smack of paranoia. Not the hairstyle but the 'inner discipline' determines the behavior of children at school. 'Parents and educators don't understand what the real needs of children are, even though they want their best interests at heart. They should teach children life skills and self-discipline.”
And the kids? 14-year-old Visarut Rungrod, who now has millimeter hair, is happy that he can grow his hair. "I'll feel more confident when I go out." But 14-year-old Pattanotai Tungsuwan, who sports a silky black ponytail, will be a concern. 'I prefer to focus on my studies.'
(Source: Bangkok Post, August 9, 2013)
The rule in which the hair style of boys and girls was laid down was abolished a long time ago, a few years ago, by a minister at the time.
The motivation then was that people could not be forced to deviate from rules of life, nor from ritual and/or religious beliefs.
However, it was left to the schools whether or not to enforce the rule.
I have several Thai acquaintances, both boys and girls who attend high school or university. No flowerpot haircut or short hair. Boys have normal hair and girls have long hair. It will undoubtedly have been the rule in an education law, but certainly that schools that apply this rule are exceptions.
Those old hair regulations also had to do with hygiene.
Shortly shaved hair tried to discover faster whether someone had head lice.
Gringo once wrote about this: https://www.thailandblog.nl/column/luizen-thailand/
The text is correct, but the truth is not. My 10-year-old son goes to a Christian school and the rules are not followed here, why not? very simple the hairdressers have revolted and the school shares in the turnover of the hairdressers, this is a smaller place.
My 17-year-old daughter attends a Catholic school in a larger town, here is the point of view: we are a private school and have our own rules, so the old hairstyle. Don't agree, just find a new school, the school fees have already arrived!!!!!!!!!!!
I have been living in Thailand for 32 years now. I've always hated rules like this. Thailand wants to participate in the world and then you have to come up with this kind of idiocy. Reason to place my 4 children at an international school without these rules, with the added advantage that they also speak the English language from an early age. Thailand should be more concerned about that. By the way, a small side note on a contributor. Do better homework, because the hairstyle rules do not apply to universities, only to lower education (Ic high school) and schools without Buddhist teachings.
Janine, your comment to an entrant to do his homework better makes no sense.
You cannot expect readers to first verify whether a message is correct before he/she responds. It clearly states "" Flowerpot hairstyles and millimeter hair for boys and for girls a hairstyle no longer than below the earlobe has been the only permitted hairstyle in schools since 1972." When I read it like that, I assume (especially as a non-Thailand resident) that this applies to all schools. For example, instead of attacking someone, you could have noted that the information is incorrect/incomplete and that the rule only applied to primary schools without Buddhist teachings.