Opinion Unpacking Thailand’s Beauty Ideals: A Call for Diversity and Inclusion

[snoop1130]

An internal conflict | Photo by Farhan Abas on Unsplash

 

Upon arriving in Bangkok and boarding the Skytrain, I was immediately struck by the advertisements surrounding me. They displayed high beauty standards: porcelain-white, ultra-thin individuals with flawless skin and disproportionately large eyes. It was a surreal experience, more reminiscent of AI-generated images than of real human beings. This homogenous portrayal of beauty seemed at odds with the diverse backgrounds I grew up with in Canada and the United States.

 

These idealised images were not confined to the Skytrain; they extended to billboards, magazines, and almost every media platform across the city. The contrast between the billboards and the real people around me was stark. During my two-month stay, it became impossible to ignore the impact these unattainable standards might have on individuals’ self-image and confidence.

 

This intense focus on a narrow concept of beauty raises significant concerns. What psychological toll do these standards take on Thai residents, particularly young men and women, who may feel pressured to conform? The influence on self-esteem and body image can be profound, leading some to drastic measures like eating disorders, excessive workouts, and even surgery.

 

Thai-American Nicole Ogden’s story highlights the struggles of not fitting into Thai beauty ideals. She mentioned feeling oversized compared to peers, many of whom suffered from eating disorders. While Nicole eventually embraced her uniqueness, many continue to grapple with these pressures, sometimes turning to skin-lightening or other potentially harmful practices.

 

Skin lightening itself is a multi-billion-dollar global industry, driven by marketing that exploits people’s insecurities. During my visit to a Thai 7/11, finding skincare products that didn't include whitening agents was challenging. The contrast to Western beauty ideals, which often celebrate tanned skin, was striking.

 

This is not merely a Thai issue; worldwide, beauty industries perpetuate unattainable ideals, impacting millions. To create a positive change, we must challenge these narrow standards and celebrate diverse representations of beauty. The goal should be to foster a more inclusive culture that honours all unique forms of beauty.

 

By reflecting on how these beauty standards affect self-perception, we can work towards redefining beauty to embrace diversity. It's crucial to ask ourselves: What is your idea of beauty, and how do we collectively move towards a more inclusive standard in Thailand and beyond?

 

 

  Adapted by ASEAN Now from The Thaiger 2025-05-14

 

 

[dairy queen]

No idea who 'Unsplash' are, but Just fu*k off with your diversity and inclusion bull<deleted>. If Nicole is fat, she should stop being a greedy porker and go for a walk or to the gym.

Thankfully, most Thai will [quite rightly] laugh at this nonsense.

[FlorC]

They want to look like Japanese women , whiter skin and

more beautiful.

[newbee2022]

19 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

An internal conflict | Photo by Farhan Abas on Unsplash

 

Upon arriving in Bangkok and boarding the Skytrain, I was immediately struck by the advertisements surrounding me. They displayed high beauty standards: porcelain-white, ultra-thin individuals with flawless skin and disproportionately large eyes. It was a surreal experience, more reminiscent of AI-generated images than of real human beings. This homogenous portrayal of beauty seemed at odds with the diverse backgrounds I grew up with in Canada and the United States.

 

These idealised images were not confined to the Skytrain; they extended to billboards, magazines, and almost every media platform across the city. The contrast between the billboards and the real people around me was stark. During my two-month stay, it became impossible to ignore the impact these unattainable standards might have on individuals’ self-image and confidence.

 

This intense focus on a narrow concept of beauty raises significant concerns. What psychological toll do these standards take on Thai residents, particularly young men and women, who may feel pressured to conform? The influence on self-esteem and body image can be profound, leading some to drastic measures like eating disorders, excessive workouts, and even surgery.

 

Thai-American Nicole Ogden’s story highlights the struggles of not fitting into Thai beauty ideals. She mentioned feeling oversized compared to peers, many of whom suffered from eating disorders. While Nicole eventually embraced her uniqueness, many continue to grapple with these pressures, sometimes turning to skin-lightening or other potentially harmful practices.

 

Skin lightening itself is a multi-billion-dollar global industry, driven by marketing that exploits people’s insecurities. During my visit to a Thai 7/11, finding skincare products that didn't include whitening agents was challenging. The contrast to Western beauty ideals, which often celebrate tanned skin, was striking.

 

This is not merely a Thai issue; worldwide, beauty industries perpetuate unattainable ideals, impacting millions. To create a positive change, we must challenge these narrow standards and celebrate diverse representations of beauty. The goal should be to foster a more inclusive culture that honours all unique forms of beauty.

 

By reflecting on how these beauty standards affect self-perception, we can work towards redefining beauty to embrace diversity. It's crucial to ask ourselves: What is your idea of beauty, and how do we collectively move towards a more inclusive standard in Thailand and beyond?

 

 

  Adapted by ASEAN Now from The Thaiger 2025-05-14

 

 

Where is the problem?

To be slim is not a crime.

Think about the "duck lips" in the West!. That's not only ugly but more a crime.

 

[Will B Good]

 

Could not agree more with the content of the article....this obsession with white skin, which pervades every aspect of Thai society is extremely unhealthy, both mentally and physically

[LALes]

We didn't get enough of that DEI crap in the West so now we have to get it in Thailand???

Gimme a break.

[WDSmart]

I certainly recommend DEI in all of society, but not just for "beauty ideals." The very classification of beauty as an ideal is against DEI. 

[hotchilli]

Grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.,

[Tarteso]

What you saw in BTS are Chinese copies they need more American fat food.. IMO

 

[Cameroni]

Feminist comes to Thailand and is offended to see beauty.

 

All should be ugly. 

 

Because as feminists know, beauty is the enemy.

[jayboy]

I don't know why Thailand is being singled out and the comparison with diverse backgrounds in Canada is surely completely irrelevant.There is of course a problem in the fashion industry world wide with the unrealistic body types that are so often portrayed.Whether we like it or not the top models in every culture will be tall, slim and beautiful.In Thailand the particular twist (since tall slim beautiful girls are not in short supply) is the ethnic/class bias with darker skins suggesting a farming/Isaan/ethnic Lao background.On top of this are the biases of a Sinocentric Bangkok.I may be too optimistic but I feel the situation is changing for the better.

 

Incidentally before some genius starts bemoaning the influence of the West on skin prejudices in Asia, the preference for fair over dark skin was well entrenched throughout Asia long before the West made iots presence felt.

[klauskunkel]

21 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The contrast between the billboards and the real people around me was stark. During my two-month stay, it became impossible to ignore the impact these unattainable standards might have on individuals’ self-image and confidence.

Just imagine the impact a picture of a juicy steak has on a hungry person who can't afford it... One should replace it with a picture of fish head, since they are attainable by anybody. That way there will be no incentive to improve oneself and everyone stays mediocre.

[GreasyFingers]

3 hours ago, Will B Good said:

 

Could not agree more with the content of the article....this obsession with white skin, which pervades every aspect of Thai society is extremely unhealthy, both mentally and physically

Do you mean that not getting enough vitamin D from the sun is unhealthy, I could not care less as they are not attractive to me. I grew up on a beach when a tan was the go and to this day give me a girl with tanned skin for sex appeal.

[connda]

On 5/14/2025 at 5:53 PM, snoop1130 said:

What is your idea of beauty, and how do we collectively move towards a more inclusive standard in Thailand and beyond?

I don't want to move toward diversity and inclusivity.  You're either beautiful or you're not.  If you're not beautiful, tough. Too bad - get over it. You weren't dealt that hand of cards.  Not everyone is - most people aren't.  Then you can just be like the rest of us average people.  If you are beautiful, then that illusion will dispel withing two or three decades and new "beautiful" people will take your place.  If you actually were fooled into believing in your own inherent beauty, you'll probably end your life miserable and extremely unhappy, and no doubt will cosmetically butcher yourself in the process - then you WILL be truly ugly.  Join the majority. That's karma in a nutshell.  And in reality, many of those who actually, in my own opinion, are truly physically beautiful spend most of their lives looking into a mirror and seeing someone who can't live up to their own expectations of beauty.  Too bad they didn't have well-grounded parents.

Personally I'm more interested in what is beneath that superficial layer of illusion society labels as "beauty."
Because the superficial layer is only temporary, and it will change over time, and not for the better. 

And really - anyone who want's the majority to collectively accept ugly people as beautiful are actually more interesting in changing people's attitudes by force.  Like forcing people to say men are women at the end of a gun.  It won't work, nor should it.  I get the distinct feeling the Op wants society to be forced to accept the beast as beautiful.  Why? That too is indulging in illusion.

 

And nothing the OP spewed here is unique to Thailand - it's universal.  Wanna know what really is healthy?  Having a positive self imagine regardless of how society defines beauty and accepting yourself as you are. Beauty?  "Pfft!"  Some of the most f'ed up people I've met in life have been externally "beautiful" but internally a train-wreak. And some of the most beautiful people I've know weren't much to look at. 

Now dwell on that.

[Magictoad]

3 hours ago, klauskunkel said:

Just imagine the impact a picture of a juicy steak has on a hungry person who can't afford it... One should replace it with a picture of fish head, since they are attainable by anybody. That way there will be no incentive to improve oneself and everyone stays mediocre.

Why would someone prefer a beef joint to a fish head? It because they don't know how to cook. Only to fry- which anyone can do with a piece of beef requiring zero skill or knowledge compared to the ART of preparing fish heads- far superior to steaks.

[Sir Dude]

Typical BS from those idiots that write such articles. What? You come for a short time to Thailand and straight away think you are Carl Jung on the psychological stuff in other countries. Clearly you understand nothing of Thai/Asian culture and that perceptions of beauty are completely different here, not to mention they don't want your silly DEI rubbish either... and I see very few "traumatized" Thai males about as the girls are naturally slim here, and if they aren't, then stop feasting and you'll be okay.

Beauty is subjective, and the locals like it how it is, same goes for the rest of Asia... the girls are naturally slim, leave them to it. Even in the West, it has always been fashionable to be slim, look how many are using weight-loss jabs and any idea to lose weight. Take your sanctimonious DEI nonsense and judgement and shove it where the sun doesn't shine... stop lecturing people, get over yourself, making issues where there aren't any, and let do/like what they want to. All this sort of nonsense is just an attempt at social engineering... which is sinister.

[Oliver Holzerfilled]

"Upon arriving in Bangkok...I was immediately struck by the advertisements surrounding me....This homogenous portrayal of beauty seemed at odds with the diverse backgrounds I grew up with in Canada and the United States."

 

Typical American lefty traveller, immediately critical of their host country.   Doesn't matter the topic they expect the rest of the world to cater to their wants and feelings.  

 

Get a load of these two San Franciscans failing in France.  Beyond comical.

 

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/us-couple-dream-life-france-became-nightmare/index.html?iid=cnn_buildContentRecirc_end_recirc

 

[Mike_Hunt]

35 minutes ago, Magictoad said:

Why would someone prefer a beef joint to a fish head? It because they don't know how to cook. Only to fry- which anyone can do with a piece of beef requiring zero skill or knowledge compared to the ART of preparing fish heads- far superior to steaks.

This might be the dumbest post of the day.  

[TedG]

21 minutes ago, Oliver Holzerfilled said:

"Upon arriving in Bangkok...I was immediately struck by the advertisements surrounding me....This homogenous portrayal of beauty seemed at odds with the diverse backgrounds I grew up with in Canada and the United States."

 

Typical American lefty traveller, immediately critical of their host country.   Doesn't matter the topic they expect the rest of the world to cater to their wants and feelings.  

 

Get a load of these two San Franciscans failing in France.  Beyond comical.

 

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/us-couple-dream-life-france-became-nightmare/index.html?iid=cnn_buildContentRecirc_end_recirc

 

 

 

“I think every married couple needs two places to live, because you’ve got to get away from each other,” adds Joanna, who previously worked as a healthcare executive.

 

Talk about White Privilege. 

[Paradise Pete]

7 hours ago, LALes said:

We didn't get enough of that DEI crap in the West so now we have to get it in Thailand???

Gimme a break.

 

Absolutely! If these people are not like me then they should stay out of the way!