I was driving up Thapae Road in Chiang Mai one afternoon a few months ago and saw three 20-something farang girls walking along the pavement in really skimpy bikinis and flip flops, quite oblivious to their inappropriate behaviour.

 

I mean really, FLIP FLOPS!

Take a look at old photos and paintings of common Thai people 100+ years ago. The men AND the women usually went topless. It wasn't until the Thais decided to emulate the filthy Europeans that they started covering up. Same is true for Bali, a real pity, as the women there usually have "more" to cover up

I was in church one time and a topless girl walked in just as the priest was giving his sermon. He said to her "you can't come in here dressed like that". She said "but I have a divine right". The priest said "you have a divine left too but you still can't come in here dressed like that".

God bless Tommy Cooper


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I get the message that you "can't have your cake and eat it" regarding which "rules" you want to follow but as hard as I try I struggle to believe a shirtless ferang has hurt their feeling as you describe. Sounds like it's more you that feels hurt by it.


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Jees Louise, can't common sense be used just a tad bit. Shirtless in a food court, Big C and such is not necessary......again common sense. Going shirtless to the local small market shirtless....who cares.

Ancient Greeks walked around naked, especially during the Olympic games. And I do mean fully naked.

Edited December 21, 20178 yr by AlQaholic

17 minutes ago, Kadilo said:

God bless Tommy Cooper


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Who is Tommy Cooper?

10 minutes ago, AlQaholic said:

Ancient Greeks walked around naked, especially during the Olympic games. And I do mean fully naked.

 

 

Well, when in ancient Greece......

Not sure which is worse in a hot climate; wearing no shirt or a long-sleeved shirt

42 minutes ago, Meljames said:

 

 

Well, when in ancient Greece......

At least it explains why the elderly like to retire here

Edited December 21, 20178 yr by Been there done that

2 hours ago, Mavrix said:

I saw a Thai guy walking down Soi 6 in Pattaya last year with no shirt on......Had a bra on though 

That's funny.................

4 hours ago, tgeezer said:

 

“...in a nation where lying, thieving, corruption, racism a.o is rife. “.
If you speak from experience and object to these things perhaps you should consider taking my post more seriously.


Do you not see the irony in accusing all Thai people of racism?

“Shirtless jeeezzzz”

You reap what you sow.


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I better buy a shirt then.

14 hours ago, Meljames said:

Arschlochs belong to all nationalities.

A little understood notion here at the hub of Thai bashing.

I saw the classic shirtless looser farang in Lotus the other day IN THE SHIRT AISLE.  No, sadly, not buying a shirt.  Filthy animal.

I thought it was just me . I am often disgusted by the sight of some fat topless men in 7/11 

Nobody answered the question "Is it against the law?" I suppose it is for women and not for men. But what about Ladyboys.

 

Den

I play Snooker at a very nice club, I am constantly challenged by people who want to play and beat the Falang.   it may be hot but it never ceases to amaze me how many have there shirts/ Tshirts pulled up to their necks. Ugly, sure is. Just take it off if its that hot.

9 minutes ago, wijipa said:

I play Snooker at a very nice club, I am constantly challenged by people who want to play and beat the Falang.   it may be hot but it never ceases to amaze me how many have there shirts/ Tshirts pulled up to their necks. Ugly, sure is. Just take it off if its that hot.

Are you Jimmy White in real life perhaps ?

Back to this nonsense again.  Get out into the country dear chap and you will see many shirtless Thai men in the villages.  Walk around in Chiang Mai with your eyes actually open, and you occasionally see shirtless Thai guys in the city too.
And study history.

The picture below was reality up until 1942.  The adoption of 'modest' Western dress was a government mandate, which did not reflect 'Thai culture.'  Thai cultural dress is represented on the left - mandated Western dress is on the right.  Even women were still going topless in the 1950 and 1960 considering that many villages were only accessible by dirt roads and ox carts unless the village was next to a rail line.  This is verifiable if your Thai is good enough and you take the time to talk to people older than 55 in rural villages. 

So, this concept of shirtless being a cultural norm is nonsense.  It is still a government mandate and one that is not uniformly followed by Thais.  The further you get from cities, the more likely you'll be to find shirtless Thai men.  Unfortunately, all the ladies in the villages cover up nowadays.  Well, unless you trek out to remote Hill Tribe country.  Women are still uncovered.  The more remote the villages, the more likely you'll find that dress doesn't fit the mandated Western norms imposed on Thai society and culture. 

What is probably more interesting are the number of puritanical Westerns living in Thailand who find the human body offensive.  That's what this is really all about: Westerners projecting their own overly moralistic values and claiming that their own moralistic perspectives are in fact Thai culture.
Government mandated? True.
Thai culture? Not so.

Edited December 21, 20178 yr by connda

This topic has been done death already, 'Shirtless Farangs'.

Hmm, some are easily offended. We had one local farang who frequently berated others on the local forum for their casual dress, According to him, if in public all farang should wear long trousers, shoes, socks and button up shirts. Didn't mention ties, bowler hats and umbrellas though, 

 

Yes, we see plenty of shirtless thais, and ones in shorts. Not all poverty stricken either. Must say, we do not get many shirtless farangs, but do get quite a few in tank tops (shows off their tattoos better).

15 hours ago, tgeezer said:

I have seen Chinese shopkeepers sweeping up the pavement outside their shops without shirts on around here, I presume that like the man you saw he knows the form. Going shirtless was Thai culture for people who couldn't afford many clothes especially in the countryside working the fields.



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Not only for those who couldn't afford many clothes. Thai history records accounts of KINGS in their throne rooms, completely shirtless.  WIthout  air conditioning or electric fans, wearing lots of clothes was begging to be very uncomfortable.

If the shirtless farangs looked like me they would probably enjoy a few free beers from the locals....

7 minutes ago, transam said:

If the shirtless farangs looked like me they would probably enjoy a few free beers from the locals....

Must be beer passed the expirydate 

Horror of horrors, white man seen walking without a shirt. Affront, disgusting, ohh the indignity of a fellow colonial who lacks all culture. I shudder to think what terrible acts will follow.

 

 

I think in summation we can conclude that men of various nationalities and races do sometimes appear in public without their shirts on and that many of them should not.

 

Apparently this shocks and offends some people and titillates others. Many people come to Thailand with the express purpose of being titillated while others spend their time searching far and wide for reasons to be offended by everything and anything. 

 

One possible solution for everyone to assuage all this angst, especially at this time of the year ... ho, ho ho.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

17 hours ago, Been there done that said:

Funny how a plenty of foreigners try to uphold high morals and ethics in a nation where lying, thieving, corruption, racism a.o is rife.

 

Shirtless jeeezzzz

Spot on!

 

Also, nitpicking about the slightest bit of misbehavior that a foreigner makes, and then they ( the expats) are all on TV screaming about ' banning them for life ' etc ' throw them in jail ' and what is and isn't ' against the laws '  of Thailand., implying that Thailand is some great people and culture far superior to any other!

 

A country where you can run over a kill a policeman but if you have the cash and a family name you are exempt from the justice system. A country where their top policemen can visit another country such as Japan, with a gun and bullets in his luggage and get away with it because of his position. A country where high ranking officials get caught, whilst visiting other countries stealing pictures from hotels, then pulls rank and political favors to escape justice when they are caught.A country where the second in command is flashing watches off costing millions and millions of baht but never declared these assets, a crime others would lose everything for and have their assets seized. A country where it is almost a hobby and foreigners can be cheated out of all their assets by people supposed to be respected, in high legal positions complicit in this type of corruption. Finally, a country where two foreign men can be scapegoated and convicted of murder and given the death sentence when it is an ' open secret ' that they are innocent.

 

But let's give this foreigner ten lashes, throw him in IDC and ban him for life for going shirtless!..... Pathetic!

For me, it's more of an aesthetics question. I have no problem with a guy who has a six-pack of abs and built like a Greek god going shirtless, or  women with cute butts wearing short shorts.

It's when I see a man of any nationality parading around with a belly bigger than his chest shirtless, or women with thighs like tree trunks complete with cellulite trying to wear shorts two sizes too small,  that I have to think they are totally unaware of how unappealing they look.

6 hours ago, geriatrickid said:

And when done, they'll toss their trash on the ground, go back to the bottle of whisky,  and molesting one of the  local kids. They are just so wholesome and proper.

Whow ! you must live in an awful area, you should move.

2 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

For me, it's more of an aesthetics question. I have no problem with a guy who has a six-pack of abs and built like a Greek god going shirtless, or  women with cute butts wearing short shorts.

It's when I see a man of any nationality parading around with a belly bigger than his chest shirtless, or women with thighs like tree trunks complete with cellulite trying to wear shorts two sizes too small,  that I have to think they are totally unaware of how unappealing they look.

Perhaps they don't care what YOU think and want to do what THEY think in their world..