A mood for change is in the air, and for one cop, it should start with his hair.
Six years after all cops were required to get identical haircuts, Thirawat Panyatammakul of the Royal Thai Police is encouraging his fellow officers to post photos of their preferred hairstyles in an effort to reassert control over their appearance.
“Post a picture of yourself wearing a uniform with an impressive hair style. Help each other post and share for awareness of your rights to your body and freedom on your head,” he wrote on social media, along with photos of himself with a handsome, non-regulation ‘do. He tagged it #PoliceHairstyle and added a telltale orange heart.
The post earned more than 10,000 likes and 2,000 shares in little over two hours. More importantly, it’s already drawn a few responses from other cops.
Soon after, other police officers began sharing their ideal hairstyles – and orange-colored emoji signaling support for the progressive party which won Sunday night’s election in a landslide.
Police officers lined up at barber shops in November 2017 when all of the roughly 230,000-strong force were ordered to get identical buzz cuts: bare sides and backs, small patch of fuzz on top. Dozens were dismissed after refusing to comply.
The hairdo was identical to those sported by the newly ascended king’s personal bodyguards and referred to as the “904 cut,” a security code used for the king when he was crown prince.
Thirawat’s post speaking out on officers’ rights to personal expression seemed emboldened by the upset victory of the orange-colored Move Forward Party, who won voters of all ages to outperform all of the old-guard political factions.
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