Thailand may allow its police officers to cool off by wearing a new short-sleeve uniform, a move they hope will also help save energy at police stations, a spokesman said Saturday.
Thai police currently have only a brown, torso-hugging long-sleeve uniform that they wear even while directing traffic in Bangkok's sweltering heat.
National police chief Sereepisut Taemeeyaves has proposed a new lighter-weight khaki uniform that would have short sleeves to make it cooler for police on the street, spokesman Pongsapat Pongcharoen said.
Sereepisut also hopes the change would help police save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by encouraging officers to turn down air conditioners at police stations, Pongsapat added.
"We have discussed changing to a new police uniform for a long time, to find something more relaxed and suited to our climate," he said.
Approving a new uniform is a complicated and lengthy process, and will require the police commission to seek a change to the laws regulating the force, Pongsapat added.
