Chinese tourists could be fined for wearing Thai student uniforms

A Thai lawyer has warned Chinese tourists to stop wearing Thai student uniforms while travelling in Thailand as it could result in a fine of 1,000 baht.

Wearing a Thai student uniform when travelling in Thailand has gained momentum among Chinese tourists after the well-known Chinese actress and singer, Ju Jingyi, posted a picture of herself wearing a Thai student uniform during a visit to Bangkok in February on her Weibo account.

In the picture, Ju Jingyi is seen wearing a student uniform with her name written in Thai and a made-up student ID on the shirt written as จวีจิ้งอี 991. See her picture HERE.

Many Chinese tourists posted pictures of themselves wearing Thai student uniforms on social media. Most of the backdrops to the pictures were staged in Bangkok and Phuket. The student uniform shop in the Bang Lampoo neighbourhood of Bangkok called Sriphan Student Uniform also posted pictures of its Chinese customer on its official Facebook page.

The owner of the Sriphan Student Uniform shop gave an interview with ThaiRath and mentioned that she believed the trend came from a Thai romantic comedy movie named “First Love” or “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” (สิ่งเล็กๆ ที่เรียกว่ารัก) that was screened in China before the pandemic.

The Thai romantic comedy movie starring Mario Maurer and Pimchanok Luevisadpaibul tells a story of a 14 year old high-school girl who falls in love with a senior student and improves herself to be good enough for him. Her love story is narrated along with the life of Thai high school students and friendships which makes the film a favourite of many Thais.

A well-known Thai lawyer, Ratchapon Sirisakorn, urged Chinese tourists to be aware of Thai law related to student uniforms. Ratchapon warned that wearing a student uniform but not having a student status could result in a fine of 1,000 baht according to the Student Uniform Act.

Ratchapon explained that wearing a student uniform or dress to imitate students and making others believe that the persons are students could be illegal if they embody school names or abbreviations that match with schools in Thailand.

Ratchapon suggested that Chinese tourists and others who want to keep up with the trend avoid embodying any messages on the uniforms or only embody their names to avoid legal charges and fines.