39 minutes ago, Gottfrid said:

Oh my God! You did it again. Research is your life, right? But, that must mean, from 1990-2025, only 0,7 cm for men and nothing for women in 35 years, right?

Information is at your fingertips and takes seconds to access….   
If you consider that onerous research that’s your flaw. 
 

You were wrong, there’s enough evidence that people in Thailand have grown as a result of better diet… Yet there remains a disparity between urban & rural areas, primarily as as a result of socio-educational-economic status…

 

It’s not hard to understand, no matter how blinkered you want to be. 
 

 

14 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Information is at your fingertips and takes seconds to access….   
If you consider that onerous research that’s your flaw. 
 

You were wrong, there’s enough evidence that people in Thailand have grown as a result of better diet… Yet there remains a disparity between urban & rural areas, primarily as as a result of socio-educational-economic status…

 

It’s not hard to understand, no matter how blinkered you want to be. 
 

 

Ok, let´s sort it out. My information from: Average Height by Country 2025

Here is my post:
 

23 hours ago, Gottfrid said:

Ok if you see 171 for males and 159 for females as tall, up to you.

Think about that this is number for 2025, and below we have your post:

17 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Your source captures the average height across Thailand as a whole.

 

In less affluent regions, poor diets and limited access to nutritional resources often result in stunted growth. Conversely, individuals in more affluent areas, with better nutrition,  are more likely to reach their full height potential.

 

Nutritional disparities are a longstanding public health concern in Thailand. Initiatives led by the Thai Ministry of Public Health and supported by international organisations like UNICEF and WHO have aimed to improve childhood nutrition - especially in underserved areas - to reduce stunting and promote better health outcomes.

 

Additionally, Thailand has seen significant improvements in average adult height over recent generations.

A large-scale cohort study of more than 86,000 Thai adults born between 1940 and 1990 found that mean heights increased by approximately 1 cm per decade - this alone is a clear indicator of improving childhood conditions.

 

Urban-born Thais benefited more: urban men grew 0.5 cm more per decade than their rural counterparts, and urban women 0.4 cm more per decade.

 

Breaking it down by birth cohort, individuals born between 1940–55 averaged male heights of 166.3 cm and female heights of 156.2 cm. By the 1986–1990 cohort, these averages rose to 170.3 cm for men and 159.0 cm for women - gains of nearly 4 cm for men and 3 cm for women over that half-century.

 

The urban–rural divide remains. Urban-born men in the youngest cohort were 6.4 cm taller than the oldest rural-born group; urban women were 4.3 cm taller.

 

Additional evidence supports these trends. Male military conscripts aged 21 - sampled from 1972 to 2006 - showed an increase from about 164.4 cm to 169.2 cm: nearly 5 cm gain over 35 years, with most growth occurring after 1990.

 

 

 

TLDR ??? - Summary... Your comment is rubbish - Welcome to reality !

 

Shorter balcony's in cheaper hotels is an issue in Thailand, as is general safety. That said, I was as at good hotel recently and the balcony (Glass) on the 14th floor came up to my chest - Obviously newer hotels are built to more stringent regulations.

 

 

 

Now think about that you state, in your post above, that between the years 1986-1990 the average ended up to 170,3 for men and 159 for women. As of today, 2025, the average is 172 for men and 159 for women. That must mean that during the last 35 years, the average height for men increased with only 1,7 cm while nothing happened on the female side. After that, you sort out a specific group, and try to state that most growth was occurring after 1990. Your numbers just doesn´t mix. 

13 hours ago, Gottfrid said:

Ok, let´s sort it out. My information from: Average Height by Country 2025

Here is my post:
 

Think about that this is number for 2025, and below we have your post:

Now think about that you state, in your post above, that between the years 1986-1990 the average ended up to 170,3 for men and 159 for women. As of today, 2025, the average is 172 for men and 159 for women. That must mean that during the last 35 years, the average height for men increased with only 1,7 cm while nothing happened on the female side. After that, you sort out a specific group, and try to state that most growth was occurring after 1990. Your numbers just doesn´t mix. 

 

Because you don't know how to research information and instead apply oversimplified and dumbed down logic.

 

Also, different studies will establish slightly different figures - thus mathematically comparing the outcome of one study to another is clearly going to give slightly conflicting results, only a flawed mind would look for numerical perfection when attempting to use results from different studies - you have to accept that there are differences and understand the general trends.

 

Its is fact: There is a clear difference in height between the Urban and the Rural Thai's (reasons explained (again) below) there is also an increasing trend in average height over the decades and this is backed up by the ministry of public health projections and other studies.

 

 

-----------

 

 

A baseline study carried out by Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (STOU) was conducted in 2005 and recruited 86,105 adult distance-learning students (aged 15–87 years, median age ~30).

 

Urban vs Rural Height Differences in Thailand

 

Adult Heights by Birth Cohort (1940–1990)

A large national study (the Thai Cohort Study, >86,000 adults) analysed secular trends in adult height across birth cohorts.

 

 

 

Men (born 1986–1990, now adults):

- Urban-born: 172.4 cm

- Rural-born: 169.6 cm

- Difference: ~2.8 cm

 

Women (born 1986–1990, now adults):

- Urban-born: 160.3 cm

- Rural-born: 158.5 cm

- Difference: ~1.8 cm

 

For the oldest cohorts (1940–1955), the urban–rural differences were much smaller:

- Men: 166.9 cm (urban) vs 166.0 cm (rural) (~0.9 cm gap)

- Women: 156.5 cm (urban) vs 156.0 cm (rural) (~0.5 cm gap)

 

 

Secular Height Increases (per decade)

Men:

- Urban-born: +1.50 cm per decade

- Rural-born: +1.01 cm per decade

 

Women:

- Urban-born: +1.32 cm per decade

- Rural-born: +0.91 cm per decade

 

 

Why the Gap Exists

The widening urban–rural difference reflects cumulative effects:

Urban advantages: better nutrition, healthcare, sanitation, parental education, and family wealth.

Rural disadvantages: persistent undernutrition, larger family sizes, lower birth weights, and limited access to healthcare.

Generational lag: urban populations benefited sooner from Thailand’s rapid development, while rural populations improved more slowly.

 

So in short: the “urban vs rural” difference is a 2–3 cm gap for men and about 2 cm for women among adults born in the late 1980s, whereas older generations had a smaller gap - this is down to the improvements seen (mentioned above) where greater improvement has occurred in rural area.s

 

 

-----------

 

There have also been projections carried out by Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health (2021)
In March 2021, the Ministry announced that growth charts for children and young adults had been revised upward:

 

The 1995 standard average height at age 19 was 165 cm (men) and 159 cm (women) - across the nation.

 

The revised standard projects average heights to reach 175 cm (men) and 162 cm (women) by around 2026, and even higher by 2036. These are projections, not measured data - but they illustrate positive expectations for future growth trends and this is based on 'improved' nutrition, healthcare, sanitation, parental education, and family wealth across the nation.

 

 

You can do your own research and find conflicting numbers, nevertheless, if capable, you will find a) an improvement in height over time, and b) a disparity in height between urban and rural Thai's (where such information exists) - and this information contracts your 'off the cuff comment' that "out in the sticks people here are not generally shorter than average in Thailand"...  You are wrong and the data shows it.

 

 

 

Whether or not this impacts the heights of balcony's I'm not sure - I suspect the builder in cheaper or older buildings placed balconies at whatever height they felt like with little oversight, this may be referenced to their own height and they may have been shorter than average (as someone pointed out), hence a lot of people find the balconies quite short here, particularly in cheaper, older buildings, whereas newer, more modern and higher end buildings and hotels generally meet or exceed what would be considered international standards.

 

 

So, next time you pull an observation out of your backside to contradict someone - just think about it a little, thats all.... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Because you don't know how to research information and instead apply oversimplified and dumbed down logic.

 

Also, different studies will establish slightly different figures - thus mathematically comparing the outcome of one study to another is clearly going to give slightly conflicting results, only a flawed mind would look for numerical perfection when attempting to use results from different studies - you have to accept that there are differences and understand the general trends.

 

Its is fact: There is a clear difference in height between the Urban and the Rural Thai's (reasons explained (again) below) there is also an increasing trend in average height over the decades and this is backed up by the ministry of public health projections and other studies.

 

 

-----------

 

 

A baseline study carried out by Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (STOU) was conducted in 2005 and recruited 86,105 adult distance-learning students (aged 15–87 years, median age ~30).

 

Urban vs Rural Height Differences in Thailand

 

Adult Heights by Birth Cohort (1940–1990)

A large national study (the Thai Cohort Study, >86,000 adults) analysed secular trends in adult height across birth cohorts.

 

 

 

Men (born 1986–1990, now adults):

- Urban-born: 172.4 cm

- Rural-born: 169.6 cm

- Difference: ~2.8 cm

 

Women (born 1986–1990, now adults):

- Urban-born: 160.3 cm

- Rural-born: 158.5 cm

- Difference: ~1.8 cm

 

For the oldest cohorts (1940–1955), the urban–rural differences were much smaller:

- Men: 166.9 cm (urban) vs 166.0 cm (rural) (~0.9 cm gap)

- Women: 156.5 cm (urban) vs 156.0 cm (rural) (~0.5 cm gap)

 

 

Secular Height Increases (per decade)

Men:

- Urban-born: +1.50 cm per decade

- Rural-born: +1.01 cm per decade

 

Women:

- Urban-born: +1.32 cm per decade

- Rural-born: +0.91 cm per decade

 

 

Why the Gap Exists

The widening urban–rural difference reflects cumulative effects:

Urban advantages: better nutrition, healthcare, sanitation, parental education, and family wealth.

Rural disadvantages: persistent undernutrition, larger family sizes, lower birth weights, and limited access to healthcare.

Generational lag: urban populations benefited sooner from Thailand’s rapid development, while rural populations improved more slowly.

 

So in short: the “urban vs rural” difference is a 2–3 cm gap for men and about 2 cm for women among adults born in the late 1980s, whereas older generations had a smaller gap - this is down to the improvements seen (mentioned above) where greater improvement has occurred in rural area.s

 

 

-----------

 

There have also been projections carried out by Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health (2021)
In March 2021, the Ministry announced that growth charts for children and young adults had been revised upward:

 

The 1995 standard average height at age 19 was 165 cm (men) and 159 cm (women) - across the nation.

 

The revised standard projects average heights to reach 175 cm (men) and 162 cm (women) by around 2026, and even higher by 2036. These are projections, not measured data - but they illustrate positive expectations for future growth trends and this is based on 'improved' nutrition, healthcare, sanitation, parental education, and family wealth across the nation.

 

 

You can do your own research and find conflicting numbers, nevertheless, if capable, you will find a) an improvement in height over time, and b) a disparity in height between urban and rural Thai's (where such information exists) - and this information contracts your 'off the cuff comment' that "out in the sticks people here are not generally shorter than average in Thailand"...  You are wrong and the data shows it.

 

 

 

Whether or not this impacts the heights of balcony's I'm not sure - I suspect the builder in cheaper or older buildings placed balconies at whatever height they felt like with little oversight, this may be referenced to their own height and they may have been shorter than average (as someone pointed out), hence a lot of people find the balconies quite short here, particularly in cheaper, older buildings, whereas newer, more modern and higher end buildings and hotels generally meet or exceed what would be considered international standards.

 

 

So, next time you pull an observation out of your backside to contradict someone - just think about it a little, thats all.... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, you could just have been writing 1 sentence.

Richard know how to find the right stuff and are always right, while everyone else is wrong.

Why do you always make things so complicated? 😂