The talk is of curfew, boot camps and dress codes. But this is not for army recruits. The Thai government wants to drag wayward teenagers into line. In proposals that echo the dictates of autocratic regimes, Thai youngsters are on notice that their increasingly decadent and destructive ways are no longer acceptable.
Midnight closing of nightspots, due to be instituted tonight, has stirred up a storm of protest. The aim is to help stop youngsters going wild at night. Yet the anger comes not from the teenagers, but from grown-up night owls who wonder how closing most bars and discos at the stroke of midnight instead of at 2am has anything to do with youngsters. This and a proposed 10pm curfew for those under 18 are just some controls on the way to tackle the problems of underage sex, drug use, dangerous motorcycle racing and student violence.
Thailand's young are in a downward spiral. Still, some sociologists, educators and senators who claim to know them well, talk not of restrictions but of offering opportunities instead.
Thailand's future lies with its children. Yet with those as young as five addicted to shopping centres, TV soaps and video games, and with pop and movie stars as role models, there are serious worries. Such is the consumerist madness that some even steal or sell their bodies to buy a mobile phone. Ironically, the government is helping fuel the headlong rush to consume by offering easy credit and encouraging youngsters to spend. The government talks of 'Thai culture', but so often it is glitzy trash culture that rules.
There are serious questions as to whether the government knows what it is doing in trying to rein in youngsters. Boot camps for nasty, violent vocational students may make sense. But curfews on youngsters and controls on girls wearing skimpy tops appear to be treating the symptoms, not the cause.
One person who understands the challenges is Chanpen Choprapawon. The researcher is carrying out a long-term government-funded survey into young people's behaviour. She says family neglect, poor education methods and materialist consumer culture are wrecking youngsters' lives. 'We are not pleased with the maturity of our kids,' she said. 'Our children are not sufficiently motivated. And they become less disciplined. What are the causes?' She calls for a focus on the family and better education.