Should Thai Ladies Make Their Skin Whiter? Why Is This Happening?

[MyPenRye]

I look forward to your views on this poll.

Third option added in the first section.

Astral

[jumnien]

You chocolate lovers always have to make some political statement to justify your perversions.

[Naam]

another "brain-amputated" thread.

[Thaddeus]

I look forward to your views on this poll.

Why?

It's been debated time and time again.

Dark skin = Field worker.

Light skin = Office worker.

Unfortunately in the real world that doesn't always work, my daughter is very dark skinned and she hasn't set foot in a paddy field ever..... it's a genetic thing..... she's only seven years old and the most gorgeous child I have ever seen.

I managed to lose my skin colour prejudices a long time ago (if I ever had any) ...... Thailand has a long way to go.

Null vote - pointless.

[pop_corn]

dark skin = good vacations?

haha, thats what in my country means.

I did vote for No! and All of the above.

[WaiWai]

It's not only the ladies.

Local and foreign companies alike realised the potential of the male market some years ago and efforts to encourage men to purchase everything from colognes to cosmetics to cosmetic surgery are well & truly underway.

And it's not only the ladies & men, it's increasingly the young teenagers & the older girls & boys, too ...

[bangkoksingapore]

white skin is widely accepted as being more attractive, so naturally it is advertised. i doubt that any of these lotions actually work.

the reason why Thais think white skin looks better has nothing to do with brainwashing, it just simply looks better. Thats like asking, why do people think guys with defined stomachs look better then guys who are obese?

Edited August 9, 2007 by bangkoksingapore

[jumnien]

It's just a horrible capitalist ploy the same as getting people to buy deodorant, tooth paste and soap. Why can't everyone be natural?

[Mid]

I look forward to your views on this poll.

Why?

It's been debated time and time again.

Dark skin = Field worker.

Light skin = Office worker.

Unfortunately in the real world that doesn't always work, my daughter is very dark skinned and she hasn't set foot in a paddy field ever..... it's a genetic thing..... she's only seven years old and the most gorgeous child I have ever seen.

I managed to lose my skin colour prejudices a long time ago (if I ever had any) ...... Thailand has a long way to go.

Null vote - pointless.

saved me the trouble , agreed

[WaiWai]

the same as getting people to buy deodorant, tooth paste and soap

Many of the "skin lighteners" contain chemicals believed to be dangerous to the user.

[soundman]

It's just a horrible capitalist ploy the same as getting people to buy deodorant, tooth paste and soap. Why can't everyone be natural?

Body odour, dirty rotting stained teeth etc? Lovely!

I do agree with the capatilist ploy though, large corporate marketing departments pay big dollars to find out what is desirable in any given community & capitalise on their research.

[WaiWai]

Common ingredients of these products are hydroquinoine and mercury.

Since both hydroquinone and mercury are carcinogenic ingredients, long-term use can cause skin cancer. Mercury in particular can cause liver and kidney failure, as well as damage to the nervous system. Mercury is also extremely toxic to unborn children, and pregnant mothers using mercury-containing creams risk giving birth to babies with brain damage and other deformations.

The use of mercury in skincare has been banned from most countries. Hydroquinone has been banned from the UK since 2001 and has been recently banned in Asian countries like Malaysia. In the US however, skincare products containing less than 2% of hydroquinone are still sold over the counter.

Any products which destroy the skin's melanin are also destroying its natural protection against sun damage; most worryingly, of course, the sun damage that leads to cancer.

Edited August 9, 2007 by WaiWai

[bangkoksingapore]

do these lotions actually work?

[howtoescape]

I know a dark skinned Thai/Chinese girl who goes to the solarium, to make herself darker, i will inform her she is meant to be whiter not browner.

[rainman]

Dark skin = Field worker.

Light skin = Office worker.

In western countries, it would be something like:

Dark skin = Rich enough to spend most of the time on holiday.

Light skin = Just got out of prison.

[rainman]

white skin is widely accepted as being more attractive, so naturally it is advertised. i doubt that any of these lotions actually work.

Right ...that's why all those models on the Fashion TV Channel have a nice tan? And that's also why 90%+ of citizens of Western countries go on holiday to a sunny country and spend all day on the beach to get as tan as possible? Come on.

[dttk0009]

white skin is widely accepted as being more attractive, so naturally it is advertised. i doubt that any of these lotions actually work.

the reason why Thais think white skin looks better has nothing to do with brainwashing, it just simply looks better. Thats like asking, why do people think guys with defined stomachs look better then guys who are obese?

Bingo.

[jetjock]

do these lotions actually work?

I don't know if it's lotions or pills that work best but something sure worked on Michael Jackson (not that anyone in their right mind gives a sh*t ! )

[ercorn]

Classic pole Asians want to be whiter and europeans want to be darker doesn`t figure ooorrrr does it?

[rainman]

lets face it none of us would turn down a Geisha lady.

I would if she had hairy legs.

[GuestHouse]

Many of the 'whitening' creams do not have any chemical effect on the skin, they are in truth 'reflective emmulsions', the quality of which varies from the top end Estee Lauder et al, down to something which I guess contains reflective road paint.

This explains why many a Farang goes home telling his friends of his happy holiday memories from Thailand and how he was surrounded by beautiful Thai women.... but when he gets the photos out, the beauties look more like a nest of Barn Owls - Their highly reflective face paint bouncing the camera flash back to the lense leaving blank, flat white faces with only dark spots for eyes, nostrils and a splash of red lipstick for a mouth.

[rainman]

I'm betting 1 Baht right now that this thread will be closed by a moderator.

[MyPenRye]

African women use the same creams and potions to get whiter, we cant blame the evil Chinkey elite for that or GWB.

This is not evidence that the Chinese elite did not use/is not using this to give them and their offsprings an edge in Thailand! African women could be using these creams for other reasons. It is quite plausible to think that cosmetics companies saw an opportunity there just like they have marketed tan skin to Western women.

Thai women use the creams to gain the appearance of a Geisha as opposed to looking like a pasty faced white women, lets face it none of us would turn down a Geisha lady.

Thai ladies want to be like Japanese geishas? Why would they?

Edited August 10, 2007 by MyPenRye

[DirkGently]

Same reason why farang ladies spend money on tanning creams/sprays/beds. Fashion.

[Kerryd]

The desire to have lighter skin is mostly a cultural (and "class") thing. Cosmetic companies are cashing in on that, but the desire to have lighter skin would still be there even if the cosmetic companies didn't exist.

As Thaddeus pointed out, Dark Skin means a person is most likely working in an occupation that requires them to be in the sun a lot. Rice farmer, construction worker, garbage collector, etc. Many of these people work in lower paying jobs and are considered in a lower "class".

Lighter Skin often means the person has a job that lets them work inside, away from the sun. Many of those jobs (not all obviously) are better paying, and the people working them would often be considered higher "class" (not to be confused with High Society or "Hi-So").

Remember that this dates back long before westerners started vacationing here, and before there were any 7-11s or MacDonalds. Back to the times when the only people with lighter skin were the elite of society (i.e. royalty, high level businessmen, senior gov't administators). Those people had the positions and means that allowed them to keep out of the blistering sun that the rest of society had to contend with everyday. Those were the people that the rest of the population looked up to, envied, and wanted to be like.

Having lighter skin, people (especially from many of the Asian cultures) will automatically assume you come from a somewhat higher class than a person with dark skin. We all know how important class distinction is in many of the Asian cultures. People will make assumptions about another persons social class with just a glance, and skin tone is just a part of that.

A friend of mine has been in Isaan for the last couple of months. She dropped in to say hi the other day and I almost didn't recognize her. She had so much white powder on her face she looked like a ghost in a cheap Chinese movie. She was worried that her time in Isaan had made her "too black", and didn't want her friends making jokes about her.

I went on a 16 day trip around the country in '98 with another friend of mine. She hated having to walk more than 100 meters, and would take a taxi if at all possible. I thought it was just laziness on her part, but it turns out she was trying to avoid being in the sun anymore than she had to.

I made her walk all over the place as I couldn't be bothered with taking a taxi to get somewhere I could walk to in a few minutes. We went on elephant rides, bamboo rafting, toured almost every temple in Mae Hon Song and spent some time in her village.

When we got back to Pattaya, I noticed her friends were joking with her about how "black" she was. I never noticed until I looked at a photo of her from a couple days before we left. She was quite a bit darker than before. I thought she looked great, but she was upset because she thought everyone that saw her would think she was a rice farmer (which, oddly enough, is what her family did in Petchabun).

I just shook my head at yet another example of the differences between Western and Asian cultures. It's been going on for centuries, and isn't likely to change any time soon.

[Jai Dee]

An inappropriate comment has been deleted.

Please keep your posts civil.

[Sanpatong]

I'm betting 1 Baht right now that this thread will be closed by a moderator.

I'll raise you 50 satang.

[Jai Dee]

I'm betting 1 Baht right now that this thread will be closed by a moderator.

I'll raise you 50 satang.

C'mon guys... you know that gambling is illegal in Thailand...

[Kerryd]

I'm betting 1 Baht right now that this thread will be closed by a moderator.

I'll raise you 50 satang.

C'mon guys... you know that gambling is illegal in Thailand...

Is it still gambling if it's a sure thing ? It would be kind of like betting on whether or not the sun will rise in the east tomorrow !

(ps: I've got a shiny new 25 satang coin burning a hole in my pocket right now, so I'll throw that in the pot !)

[eek]

The white skin thing was also desired by europeans until relatively recently. Coco Chanel caused a stir when seen with a dark tan, and as she was the height of fashion, ladies followed and it became the trend. Having a tan also ment you could afford exotic holidays.

The term 'blue blood' comes from the visual apperance of Royalty and Upper Class members of society having such pale skin that their blue veins were visible. This look was desired most. The darker a person skin was then, the more common they were.

Its class society and fashion which dictates how women feel they should appear. Skin colour/tone/shade is just one of many criterias women feel they should meet in order to be perceived as more attractive.