Officials from the education and tourism ministries are voicing support for Chinese tourists who wear Thai student uniforms, saying doing so will help promote Thailand.
Chinese nationals in Thailand have been seen wearing Thai student uniforms as a trend after Chinese actress Ju Jingyi, 28, posted a photo on her Weibo page dressed in a Thai student uniform while travelling in the kingdom last month.
The trend prompted some concerns, particularly from the Office of the Basic Education Commission, which said that it might violate the Student Uniform Act.
However, Education Minister Trinuch Thienthong on Thursday said she has found no concerning points regarding the wearing of student uniforms for fashion. No reports of crimes involving the clothing have been received, she said.
She also cited a fashion trend involving Japanese uniforms in support of her position, adding that wearing Thai uniforms does not appear to damage the clothing's reputation.
Atthapol Sangkhawasi, permanent secretary for education, also said the tourists did not intend to make fun of any educational institutions by wearing the uniform.
The Education Ministry's Student Uniform Act is aimed only at preventing wrongdoers from wearing student uniforms to put false blame on institutions or cover their crimes, Mr Atthapol said.
"I have seen from online posts that they had their names embroidered on student shirts," he said. "That is cute and beautiful and does not cause any damage."
"It also promotes tourism in Thailand. It shows that tourists see the beauty of Thai student uniforms and thus put them on," Mr Atthapol added.
However, Thanansak Bawornnanthakul, former head of the Doctor of Philosophy Program in Criminology and Criminal Justice at Mahidol University, said the craze is in paradox with a young people's movement which stands against school uniforms.
Meanwhile on the tourism aspect, Thanet Phetsuwan, deputy governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), looked more positively at the fad, saying it could encourage Chinese tourists to visit Thailand as it looks to broaden its cultural influence.
Chuwit Sirivejjakul, TAT director for East Asia, said the fad resulted from popular Thai television series, especially the BL series, and their Thai actors.
With the craze, TAT plans to woo fans of the series, considered a newer generation of tourists, to visit Thailand, he added.
