Not singing the national anthem loud enough? That will be 10 points deducted for being unpatriotic, according to the student handbook at a school in northeastern Thailand.
The weird offense was among extreme regulations at a school in Surin province, identified as the Sangkha School, which documented demerits for behavior that’s insufficiently ultra nationalist, religious, or royalist.
“Sangkha School is not for the faint of heart,” one comment read. “Does the teacher sing too? If they can, they should come out and sing in the sun. Since birth, I have not seen any teacher ever do that,” read another.
There were other head-scratching rules students risked breaking while rising for the anthem. Not joining in the singing at all? Five points off. How about not standing straight in respect of the flag? Ten points.
In fact, just being an overall bad student “of the school and country,” is another 10 points off. But worst of all? “Actions that undermine the stability of the institution, nation, religion, monarch” cost 50 points.
According to the handbook, each student starts with 100 behavioral points at the beginning of the school year.
Calls to the school this morning were unanswered. The school hasn’t publicly addressed the matter.
According to Saturday’s post, on orientation day, the school’s director allegedly told students, “Whoever can’t take it should not come study here. Just quit.”
Schools, criticized by reformers as institutions of indoctrination rather than education, have increasingly been swept into the culture wars as Thailand’s youth have become vocal proponents of change.
In 2020, a north metro Bangkok school was pressured to stop using a decibel meter to punish students for not screaming the national anthem loud enough to, in one administrator’s words, promote “harmony and discipline.”
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