An all-boy high school in the northeast province of Nakhon Ratchasima is under hot water following its leaked internal memo, which requested teachers to submit names of students that don’t conform to gender norms to the school board.
The memo, dated May 23, was reportedly leaked by an unnamed student at Ratchasima Witthayalai School. The letter, shared online by popular Facebook page Queen of Black Spades, stated that the school will hold a disciplinary session for the gender-nonconforming students so that they can “act according to the school’s regulations.”
“I’d like to ask for the cooperation of the advisory teachers in inspecting students in your classes (secretly) and submitting their names by May 26, 2017,” wrote the memo, signed by the school’s deputy director.
The anonymous admin of Queen of Black Spades, which has nearly a million followers, voiced her opinion that the school’s so-called project was an invasion of privacy and was initiated by someone with a “backwards attitude.”
Another popular comment said that this memo is proof of Thailand’s failing education system.
However, some people think differently and suggest that the school is not exactly forbidding students from adopting their desired gender, and that the institute probably wants to protect them.
School director Boonlert Puangpetch responded today that the school only wanted the gender-nonconforming students to dress according to the rules.
“It’s about their dress code and hairstyle. They’re still students. Some of them wear makeup. During school hours, we’d like them to follow the school dress regulations,” he told Voice TV.
Thailand’s government schools require students to wear gendered uniforms and enforce a crew cut on male students.
Female students are forbidden from wearing makeup and letting their hair down during school hours.
“This project is for the benefit of the students themselves. Their names are kept confidential,” the director added.
Ratchasima Witthayalai School has over 4,200 Mathayom-level students. Its survey found that about 200 of their students are gender-nonconforming.
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