Thammasat students free to wear dresses that 'don’t distract others'

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2023

Thammasat University students can now wear any dress for their classes or exams or to contact the university administration, as long as they don’t distract others with how dress, and as long as their identity can be verified.

The Thammasat University Student Council Rangsit Campus announced on Saturday that the rector of the university had signed an order lifting the uniform requirement on students.

The student council posted on its Facebook page on Saturday that students will now enjoy the freedom to dress without being defined by "a style of dressing set by anyone".

To back up its post, the council shared two announcements of the university signed by rector Kesinee Withoonchart.

Instead of defining the proper style of dressing for the students, the first announcement of the rector issued on October 12 chose to define style of dressing that would be prohibited.

Kesinee said in the first announcement that the following ways of dressing would be deemed “impolite”.

• Dressing in a way that disturbs or distracts the concentration of other students in class or while taking an exam or receiving any service from the university.

• Dressing in a way that obstructs the performance of duties of lecturers or teachers in charge of supervising exams, and university staff in charge of providing services. Such dressing includes clothes that prevent students from being identified or prevents checking against fraud by students.

On October 19, the rector issued another announcement to clarify that the earlier announcement would be applied for “general occasions” of students, meaning when they take classes, take exams and receive services from the university.

The second announcement explained that it would apply to all types of examinations.