Any 6 feet (180 cm) people finding themselves too tall in Thailand?

[RamenRaven]

I'm a 6' 0" tall guy. That's just a bit over 180 cm.

This is considered very average for men in most of Europe and North America, so most people in Western countries don't even say I'm tall.

(Also I'm not implying at all that tall people are superior to shorter people. Rather, shorter people really have an advantage in Thailand!)

 

Elsewhere in Asia:

Having traveled all over Asia before the pandemic, I have never had any problems with my height in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong,  South Korea, Malaysia, or Singapore.

Door height and street stall umbrellas have never been a problem for me. These countries can get even more crowded than Thailand, but they also build everything higher. A 180 cm person wouldn't be bumping his head into everything in China or Hong Kong.

I do look a bit taller than average in those countries, but many guys in those countries are also my height. Those countries all seem to know that there are many guys who are 180 cm tall, but life for guys who are 190 cm tall would start to get tough.

 

 

But in Thailand:

Door height is often 170-180 cm, and so are market stalls. I feel like I'm in a dollhouse, or somewhere down the rabbit hole in Alice in Wonderland.

 

Outside the major shopping centers and fancy condos, everything is built for people who are 150-170 cm on average. This gets especially troublesome in rural areas.

• I walked around a market in Surin and had to walk around with my neck bent, or else my head would crash through the makeshift wire ceiling.
• I went to a Thai friend's house in rural Chiang Mai, and my head literally touched the ceiling.
• I keep bumping my head against door frames when going to bathrooms.
• In street markets and restaurant stalls, I keep bumping my head against umbrellas, ropes, beams, and what not.
• Lots of random things dangle over sidewalks right at 180 cm, so my hair keeps brushing against signs, strings, and all kinds of objects.
• Chairs, tables, bathroom sinks, doors, shelves, everything look like they're custom built for those little 140-150 cm little street vendor ladies.
• Everyone's heads are at my cheeks, shoulders, or below.
• People in Thailand keep saying I'm tall. Sometimes I feel like I'm freakishly tall. People ask me what my parents fed me. They ask me if I had ever played basketball. You only get these kinds of questions if you're over 190 cm in a Western country.

 

And I'm a farang of average height (180-ish cm) in his home country! I can't imagine what the even taller people have to go through.

Excluding middle-class parts of Bangkok, I rarely see local Thais who are my height or taller, and almost never see local Thais who are clearly taller than me. Yes, many Thais are getting taller, but I notice that the tallest guys max out at 180-185 cm.

 

 

That being said, my width is perfectly normal and average in Thailand since I'm skinny, but not my length.

 

Are there any other average-height farangs here who feel like giants in dollhouses?

 

Edited March 5, 2021 by RamenRaven

[FritsSikkink]

Visit a proper house or a department store, you won't have any problems. In an area where they eat somtam all day, they won't be very big. Visit other areas and you will feel a lot smaller. Youth in Bangkok are bigger than you.

Edited March 5, 2021 by FritsSikkink

[RamenRaven]

Just now, FritsSikkink said:

Visit a proper house or a department store, you won't have any problems. Youth in Thailand are bigger than you.

 

Note that I said: "Outside the major shopping centers and fancy condos"

"Excluding middle-class parts of Bangkok"

 

When you travel outside those areas, most of the infrastructure is built for people in the 140-170 cm height range.

 

[nikmar]

im 190cm - the only trouble i have is buying jeans. 

[RamenRaven]

1 minute ago, nikmar said:

im 190cm - the only trouble i have is buying jeans. 

XL or 2XL Thai clothes all fit me.

Secondhand street market clothing fits me too.

 

[Sticky Rice Balls]

The Thai ladies like a tall man!

 

I mean I went bald from the headboard on my bed after all! ????

 

How about using the toilet on a thai bus.....tight squeeze!

[Sticky Rice Balls]

4 minutes ago, RamenRaven said:

XL or 2XL Thai clothes all fit me.

Secondhand street market clothing fits me too.

 

2nd hand! Yep  I get western size and cheap price and donate it when I leave..also just come there with a carry on bag! ????

[bunnydrops]

I saw a young man walking through the night market in ChiangMai once. I have no idea how tall he was but he was bent at the knees and waist to get though. The Thais just looked at him with eyes as big as saucers. I'm only 5'9'' and I fell tall here. The funny thing is even though there are some pretty big young women here, when I go to the States all the women look large.

[nikmar]

my wife's around 170, pretty tall for a thai lady, so we dont look like the odd couple  when we go out. But you should see my son in his class photo. ????

 

Still, he's popular with his friends when they play basketball. 

[Kwasaki]

35 minutes ago, RamenRaven said:

I keep bumping my head against door frames when going to bathrooms.

That's easily avoided using eyes and by ducking.

[HashBrownHarry]

No

[RamenRaven]

Just now, Kwasaki said:

That's easily avoided using eyes and by ducking.

 

Actually I meant that I used to bump my head often.

 

But yes, I do have to keep ducking.

I don't know of many other countries where 180 cm guys have to constantly duck, except for the other poorer Southeast Asian countries like Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia.

 

I've never really had to duck even in India or Guatemala, when average height for rural men can be very short, like 5' 3".

 

[ezzra]

Never mind too tall, i had few ladies quipping "Oh too big, too big" not much i can do about that is it now?...

Edited March 5, 2021 by ezzra

[keith101]

I am 188cm tall , i suggest you get used to it or go live elsewhere  .

[Fat is a type of crazy]

At 6'5" I still get a few second looks but not like it was on my first trip with my blonde girlfriend in the 80's. Then it looked like I came from the land of the Giants. 

[Dmaxdan]

46 minutes ago, RamenRaven said:

In street markets and restaurant stalls, I keep bumping my head against umbrellas, ropes, beams, and what not.

I do agree with this although I seldom bump my head. I just end up with a crick in the neck from constantly bending my head to one side.   

[RamenRaven]

I'm getting pretty used to it by now.

 

But, I am curious to know:

 

What are some other countries where 180 cm guys have to constantly duck their heads?

 

 

[orchis]

no. sometimes a shower is installed too low but that s the only problem in 25 years.

[Salerno]

1 hour ago, RamenRaven said:

This is considered very average for men in most of Europe and North America

 

That's a bit of a stretch (no pun intended). You'd be considered tall in the vast majority of countries in the world.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Average_human_height_by_country#Table_of_heights

[spidermike007]

I am around 6' tall, and I do feel tall here. But, other than the buses or the minivans, which are a bit cramped, not much of an issue. Although I have fantasized about being 6'2" tall (seems to me to be the ideal height), I know anything over 6' tall has it's inconveniences. I have a few friends who are 6'3", or 6'4", and there are alot of areas where the height is a challenge.

 

Although there is no question the height helps in both business, and with the babes. Not to mention some sports. Once I saw a guy in Bangkok, on the skytrain who was around 6'10". He was all hunched over when moving around, and no question, he seemed like a major super freak, compared to the local population. Not sure I would want all that attention. 

Edited March 5, 2021 by spidermike007

[scorecard]

35 minutes ago, bunnydrops said:

I saw a young man walking through the night market in ChiangMai once. I have no idea how tall he was but he was bent at the knees and waist to get though. The Thais just looked at him with eyes as big as saucers. I'm only 5'9'' and I fell tall here. The funny thing is even though there are some pretty big young women here, when I go to the States all the women look large.

Does large mean wide?

Does large mean obese?

 

(many are both)

[bunnydrops]

1 minute ago, scorecard said:

Does large mean wide?

Does large mean obese?

 

(many are both)

No, I have just gotten so used to all these 90 to 100 lb women here that a "normal" 120 looks large to me now. Like I said, here I feel tall, back home, I am getting shorter :). I live in a college town when I am back there and most the kids tower over me.

[NCC1701A]

yes many times.

 

but there is an advantage that I can't get into on this forum. 

[RamenRaven]

3 minutes ago, bunnydrops said:

No, I have just gotten so used to all these 90 to 100 lb women here that a "normal" 120 looks large to me now. Like I said, here I feel tall, back home, I am getting shorter :). I live in a college town when I am back there and most the kids tower over me.

 

It's all relative.

 

I used to think that Chinese people are short. Now I realize that is only if you're comparing them to Dutch and Norwegians and oversized Americans.

 

After a few years of living in Thailand, Chinese now look big and tall to me. They usually tower over Thais. Often bigger. They eat twice as much. Americans, quadruple that.

 

Whenever I walk into a Chinese airport, there are plenty of security guards and policemen standing at or over 180 cm.

 

In Thailand, more like 170-175 cm. And shorter still in Cambodia and Vietnam.

 

There's something called Bergmann's rule - smaller at the equator, bigger as you move away from the tropics

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergmann's_rule

 

Smaller people withstand humidity better. It feels like being smaller is an advantage in many hot, tropical countries.

 

[Kwasaki]

44 minutes ago, RamenRaven said:

 

Actually I meant that I used to bump my head often.

 

But yes, I do have to keep ducking.

I don't know of many other countries where 180 cm guys have to constantly duck, except for the other poorer Southeast Asian countries like Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia.

 

I've never really had to duck even in India or Guatemala, when average height for rural men can be very short, like 5' 3".

 

It's never bothered me wherever I've been.

Many Thai guys I've noticed for 15 years or so are very tall some girls to.

[sanuk711]

I am nearly 6ft---not really any problems-----Shoes, are a problem, always have hunt for the size 11....or 46...  even Lazada runs out of those sizes quickly.

[RamenRaven]

24 minutes ago, Salerno said:

 

That's a bit of a stretch (no pun intended). You'd be considered tall in the vast majority of countries in the world.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Average_human_height_by_country#Table_of_heights

 

If the average male height is 175 cm, 180 cm will feel like just slightly above average, so you still blend in just fine. In practical terms, it feels like average.

 

So, someone like me walking around in the UK would perfectly fit in height-wise.

 

Not like in much of Thailand, where you literally stick out.

 

[scorecard]

29 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

I am around 6' tall, and I do feel tall here. But, other than the buses or the minivans, which are a bit cramped, not much of an issue. Although I have fantasized about being 6'2" tall (seems to me to be the ideal height), I know anything over 6' tall has it's conveniences. I have few friends who are 6'3", or 6'4", and there are alot of areas where the height is a challenge. Although there is no question height helps in both business, and with the babes. 

For many years in Bkk I had from 3 to 20 European exchange students in my uni MBA classes.

 

90% from Germany. The rest in the class, Thai, Burmese, Sth Korean , Vietnamese...

 

Ninety % of the male exchange students were between 5.11 to 6.6. The male German students dominated the very tall gang. The Female students also quite tall, many 6.0 or just above.

 

The gap in height between most of the German boys and both the male and female Asian students was very obvious.

 

Many of the Asian boys were quite intimidated.

 

The gap in height between most of the European/German boys and most of the female Asian students produced 2 'reactions' amongst the female Asian students:

- Some of the female Asians were frightened of the very tall/stronger European boys.

- Some of the female Asians found the height of the German boys, slim bodies but very strong arms and shoulders to be very attractive and quite a few of the Asian girls didn't realize how their 'joy' was obvious.

 

Over the years several long-term relationships (Asian Girls and mostly German boys) developed including 2 marriages and several healthy kids. Seeing the Asian Girls with their 6.2, 6.3, 6.4 boyfriends was always delightful. Out on the streets locals (as you can imagine) stopped and stared at the height difference.

 

Over the years 1 marriage developed between a Thai man (average height) and a German girl 6.2. The girl was an exchange student but her employer in Germany arranged for her to work part-time in their office in Bangkok. Her Thai bf was welcomed in her office and was ultimately offered a good position. When her studies were completed they had married and had one toddler and the whole family went back to Germany in employment with the same company. 

 

Bottom line, at the uni all the European students fitted under the doorways with no problems.

Edited March 5, 2021 by scorecard

[Salerno]

8 minutes ago, RamenRaven said:

It feels like being smaller is an advantage in many hot, tropical countries.

 

Also an advantage in nightclubs worldwide ... easier to escape the bunny boiler you mistakenly picked up when you're not head and shoulders above the crowd!

[RamenRaven]

Thanks, love your story Scorecard! Really enjoyable to read. You had mentioned that your Asian students were Thai, Burmese, Vietnamese.

 

But try taking a metro ride in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Taipei, or another one of those highly developed Asian cities. Many of the men, especially the younger ones, have European-level heights. I've walked around with some European (German, Swedish, Swiss) friends in those cities, and many of the local Asian youths were just as tall as the European boys.

 

Bangkok might be on its way there.

 

Edited March 5, 2021 by RamenRaven