The Supreme Administrative Court has revoked a controversial 50-year-old Education Ministry regulation that severely limited the way students could style their hair.
The court's ruling, announced on Wednesday, is final. It brings to an end a highly controversial issue that had sparked spats involving teachers, students and parents.
The court ordered the annulment of a regulation the ministry issued in 1975, effective immediately, on the grounds it violated individual freedom protected by the constitution and was out of touch with a changing society.
Enforcement of the rule had a negative impact on students and was contrary to the provisions of the Child Protection Act 2003, according to the court.
The regulation set hairstyles deemed acceptable for male and female students in schools supervised by the ministry. Boys were not allowed beards or moustaches and had to cut their hair short. Girls were not allowed to grow their hair below their ears or to wear any makeup at all.
Its purpose was to groom them to be good boys and girls for their parents and teachers and good citizens for the nation as a whole.
The regulation was based on an order issued by a ruling military junta in 1972 regarding hairstyles deemed appropriate for students.
"The order of the military regime and the ministry regulation in dispute cannot be considered as being for the utmost benefit of the students," the court said.
The court's final judgement is seen as a victory for 23 students who first petitioned the Administrative Court in 2020, asking it to revoke the 1975 regulation.
The ministry has allowed some flexibility in student hairstyles and even dress codes since 2024. The court ruling means the ministry will now leave the issue of hairstyles up to individual schools. Some schools pass it on to parents to decide, while others leave it to the school executive body or a joint sitting of teachers and parents.
Although the issue has been legally buried by the court's ruling, comments posted on the social media platforms of Bad Student were not all happy. Posters said schools still had teachers who specifically targeted students with long hair.
"As long as there is no punishment, those old-style teachers will continue to violate the rights of the body of children," C-disc wrote on the X account of Bad Student.
A comment on the Facebook account of the Office of the Administrative Court said, "Thai education is overly focused on uniforms rather than on giving students skills for use in the future and preparing them for the demands of the global economy."
Bad Student is a loosely formed student activist group that demands democracy and more freedom in schools and classrooms. It arose as a young force demanding the ouster of the military regime and subsequent government led by General Prayut Chan-o-cha, who led the 2014 military coup and later became prime minister.
