Students at Bangkok university can choose uniform based on gender identity

After years of debate on school uniforms, transgender students at Thammasat University can now dress uniforms according to their gender identity. Along with the with uniform rule, the Bangkok university says all staff need to treat transgender students equally. Staff who discriminate or insult transgender students will be disciplined.

The school’s uniforms have long been debated. Back in 2013, Saran “Aum Neko” Chuichai, a transgender woman and Thammasat student, started a controversial anti-uniform campaign. She made raunchy posters with those in the school’s uniforms with messages like “is sex better in uniform?”

“Thammasat is a university of democracy, then why are we forced to wear a uniform when clothing doesn’t determine eduction,” Chuichai told Coconuts Bangkok in a 2013 interview.

While the school only requires students to wear the uniforms for certain occasions, such as ceremonies and exams, the many students are against the idea of uniforms altogether. The Bangkok Post says the university is known for its liberal and laissez-faire attitudes towards many social issues, including uniforms. Last year, students called for the university to abolish the uniforms altogether.

Chulalongkorn University also changed regulations last year to allow transgender students to dress according to their gender identity.