Activists in Thailand have called for clearer guidance and enforcement to stop the use of humiliating punishment haircuts in schools, after a teacher was accused of cutting the hair of at least 100 students as they sat in rows on the floor.
For decades, students in Thailand have had to comply with strict rules regarding the length and style of their hair. Last month, however, in response to growing protests from young people, the ministry of education revoked its hair regulations, saying schools could instead develop their own policies.
Young campaigners say this is too vague and unlikely to bring change. “The result is that it gives the full freedom to the schools and schools can do anything without consequence,” said Laponpat Wangpaisit, known as Min, who founded the group Bad Student, which campaigns for reforms to the school system.
Last week, his group was contacted by students at a school in Phetchabun province, in north-central Thailand, who shared footage that appeared to show a teacher cutting students’ hair as they sat in lines beside the school flagpole, apparently because they had violated haircut rules. Images said to have been taken after the incident, showing large tufts of hair spread across the concrete, were shared widely on social media.
The education minister, Treenuch Thienthong, described such actions as inappropriate, while saying she understood the teacher was well intentioned in wanting to discipline students.
She said an investigation had been ordered into the matter and teachers should not impose punishments that cause embarrassment.
Bad Students receives complaints relating to three or four schools a week where teachers have cut students’ hair, according to Laponpat. Reports peak at the beginning of the month and the start of semesters, when teachers usually carry out inspections.
Over recent years, students have increasingly campaigned against such rules, which they see as symbolic of a school system that values obedience over individuality, and of military influence.
Haircut rules were originally imposed by the military in the 1970s, and for decades male students were instructed to maintain army-style crew cuts, while female students could wear bobs no longer than their earlobes. The rules were relaxed in 2020, though male students were not permitted to wear their hair beyond the base of their neck, and perms, dyes, moustaches or beards remained prohibited.
“[We need to] eliminate any rules on hairstyles once and for all,” said Laponpat, who added that hair did not have any impact on learning. “It’s [about] the meaning of being a human – that we have full rights over our own body and this is just a starting conversation for everything else, like freedom of speech, human rights and so on,” he said.
Kunthida Rungruengkiat, a former MP with the disbanded opposition party Future Forward, said that among older generations there was a firmly held attitude that such policies were needed to instil discipline. “Their fundamental belief is that in order to become a good citizen of society, in order for you to be able to integrate into the society, you have to obey certain rules,” she said.
Kunthida said change was overdue, as was greater accountability for when teachers breach ministry guidance by imposing humiliating punishments.
Thunhavich Thitiratsakul, an educational policy researcher at Thailand Development Research Institute, said that while schools had been told to consult with students and parents when developing a haircut policy, perhaps through a school board, in reality this might not happen effectively.
“Not every school board will work as it’s supposed to,” he said, adding that matters related to students’ rights should be decided by the school. “We cannot expect every school to make a good decision.”
