Dear MEL Topic Readers,
After 50 years, Thailand finally strikes down strict rules on students’ hair lengths
In 1975, Thailand's Ministry of Education issued a directive that heavily restricted students' hairstyles and makeup to promote a more disciplined and uniform appearance among students. The directive required male students to keep their hair short and forbade mustaches, while female students were restricted to ear-length bobs and prohibited from wearing makeup. It reflects Thailand’s conservative, hierarchical Buddhist society under years of authoritarian rule, as well as the influence of the military that staged coups over ten times in the last 100 years. Schools regularly checked students’ appearances and hair lengths, enforced the rules, and deducted academic points from the students who didn’t comply with the rules. However, things began to change after the nationwide student protests in 2020, and in March this year, the highest administrative court announced that the 50-year-old directive was unconstitutional and revoked it. Even though it is unclear how soon and how much the hairstyle and appearance regulations will be loosened in schools across the country, the change has begun.
Read the article and learn about Thailand’s half-century-old school rules.
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/05/03/style/thailand-hairstyle-dress-code-students-intl-hnk-dst
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