Thai police academy stops accepting women: reports

A top Thai police school will reportedly bar young women from applying.

Thai women police officers parade at the Royal Police Cadet Academy.

Thai women police officers parade at the Royal Police Cadet Academy. Source: Getty

Thailand's Royal Police Cadet Academy will stop accepting female applicants in 2019, according to local media.

A report in the Bangkok Post on Sunday cited an order from the academy which said from next academic year "only men can apply" to attend and become police officers.

The newspaper said the academy only allowed female applications for the first time in 2009 and the latest order "did not explain the reason to end the admission of female students for police training".
Thai police officers line up during National Police Day.
Thai police officers line up during National Police Day. Source: Getty
The police cadet school opened in 1901 and around 700 policewomen have graduated there since 2009.

Thai social media has lit up with criticism against the school, according to Bangkok-based news site Khaosod English.

It said one Facebook user wrote, "only policewomen are able to get the real testimony from the assaulted, and their stories of suffering". 

While another said, "I feel sorry for the girls and women with dreams of becoming a policewoman".
The move is the latest blow for Thai women hoping to enter the police force.

Last month, the Royal Thai Police Office announced that it would only allow men to apply for the role of investigator.

The Bangkok Post said that decision was made on "the grounds that male officers have more work flexibility, while female officers are tied down with family affairs and have a higher turnover rate".

Female officers and women's rights groups have slammed the move.

Former MP Ratchada Thanadirek told the Nation newspaper that "the order was gender-biased and against the constitution".


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By Nick Baker


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