Rules requiring buzz cuts for boys and earlobe-level bobs for girls at state schools in Thailand will be abolished in a regulation approved by the education minister, media reports said today.

Education Minister Phongthep Thepkanjana has signed the new haircut rule and will present it to cabinet for approval on Tuesday, The Nation newspaper reported.

If approved, students will be allowed to choose their hair styles starting this academic year, which begins in May.

Under existing regulations for state schools, boys are required to sport crew cuts and girls must keep their locks no longer than below the ears.

The hairdo strictures, introduced more than three decades ago, are widely ignored.

- dpa