Students now free to choose their hairstyles, court rules

After years of disputes with the authorities, students in Thailand can now let their hair down. Literally.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Administrative Court of Thailand annulled a 50 -year directive of the Ministry of Education, which had previously established rules on hairstyles for school students: Short hair for boys and bobs for girls for girls.

In practice, hairstyle rules have been gradually relaxed in many schools. But some still used the directive issued by the 1975 Board as a guide, and the hair of the students who did not adhere were cut.

The 1975 directive violated individual freedoms protected by the Constitution and was out of contact with today’s society, the court said.

This week’s judicial decision occurred in response to a petition, presented by 23 public school students in 2020, which argued that the 1975 directive was unconstitutional.

Student activists have campaigned for a long time for hairstyle rules to relax, saying that they violate their human dignity and personal freedom over their bodies.

One of them is Panthin Adultthananusak, who recently graduated from the university.

“In the eyes of children like us at the time … although it seemed impossible, we wanted to do something,” he told the BBC. “If no student in Thailand’s history will rise to challenge the power of adults who suppressed us, it would be a shame for life.”

In response to such campaigns, the Ministry of Education in 2020 allowed students to have longer hairstyles, but some restrictions remained. The boys’ hair could not cover the neck of their necks, while girls with long hair had to tie it.

These regulations were revoked in 2023, with the then Minister of Education, Trinuch Thientong, announcing that students, parents and school authorities must negotiate their own common land on what is acceptable for hairstyles in their schools.

But through all these changes, some schools continued following the standard established in the original directive of 1975.

Schools have traditionally associated short hair with discipline and order, an argument that many social network users have repeated this week. But in recent years, the reports of schools that prohibit bangs or dyed hair have caused public protests through Thailand.

In some parts of the country, it is known that teachers cut students’ hair during the morning assembly to punish them for mocking the hairstyle rules. These practices have continued even when the educational authorities warned the teachers against.

In January, the Ministry of Education reiterated that it had repealed restrictions on hair duration for all students, saying that it recognized the “importance of promoting diversity and equity in all aspects of education.”

Wednesday’s judicial decision, which also says that the rules of combing schools should consider the freedom and dignity of students, the official impulse reaffirms to leave hair options to the students themselves.

But Panthin said the revocation of the decades “still leaves a hole for schools to establish their own rules.” In cases where schools have a more conservative management, he suggested, restrictions could remain in place.

However, Panthin said that “he felt happy that what he had seen and fought all the time was recognized and there was tangible progress.”

“I hope that the ruling of this court establishes a new standard for understanding of basic human rights in school.”