Ministry cuts 5cm rule on schoolboys' hair length

Strict limits on the length of students' hair will be abolished, Education Minister Phongthep Thepkanjana said yesterday.

A long-standing regulation that all schoolboys must have close-cropped hair, with the length not exceeding five centimetres, and that schoolgirls' hair must not be worn below the base of their neck, has already been amended to allow students to wear their hair longer, at the discretion of their school.

However, many students complained that they are punished in school for sporting longer hair as it is said to violate the regulations.

Phongthep said leaving the decision on acceptable hair length up to each individual school was unreasonable: students of every school should be treated the same.

"I ordered the ministry's Permanent Secretary Office to send a letter to every school under the ministry telling them that male students should have short hair [but] they will no longer be required to have close-cropped hair, while female students could choose to have short or long hair. They will still have to tie it or make it look tidy, however," Phongthep said.