What Are The Thai People Smelling?

[motoyen]

Ok 2 more newbie questions:

1) What are the Thai people smelling in the little nasal spray looking tube I see them holding?

2) What is the white paste looking stuff I see some people have smeared all over their face?

TIA

[chinthee]

1. menthol breathers beat the hel_l out of pollution. Try it!

2. White paste is weird and some kind of witch doctor belief that this will protect them from the damaging effects of the sun.

[donna]

i thought the past was a burmese product called 'ta-na-ka' which serves as a mask, a sunscreen and stops pimples. thats what ive been told anyway.

[simon43]

Or it's just plain old talcum powder...

Simon

[londonthai]

talcum with camphore (prickly heat powder) - thai do it after the shower so might look like a paste

[papaya9]

I hate seeing people with those camphor bottles stuck up their nose. It looks trashy and it can't be too good for you

[soap]

I hate seeing people with those camphor bottles stuck up their nose. It looks trashy and it can't be too good for you

i bought one of these inhalers about 15 years ago to help me stop smoking

by breaking the habit,every time i wanted a smoke i would sniff on the inhaler.

now 15 years smoke free thanks 100% to this inhaler i still carry one around with me

but only use it once or twice a week

[alexth]

I hate seeing people with those camphor bottles stuck up their nose. It looks trashy and it can't be too good for you

i bought one of these inhalers about 15 years ago to help me stop smoking

by breaking the habit,every time i wanted a smoke i would sniff on the inhaler.

now 15 years smoke free thanks 100% to this inhaler i still carry one around with me

but only use it once or twice a week

Hmmm, I might try that. Thanks for the idea

[londonthai]

nasal inhallers are used all over the world for nose and sinus congestion - the essential oils are decongestants and they kill bacteria as well. Thai people with breathing problems as well as heart problems do use them often to help with breathing.

Those same oils can be applied on the temples for headaches and on the injuries to the skin (used as well for for insect bites)

[john b good]

nasal inhallers are used all over the world for nose and sinus congestion - the essential oils are decongestants and they kill bacteria as well. Thai people with breathing problems as well as heart problems do use them often to help with breathing.

Those same oils can be applied on the temples for headaches and on the injuries to the skin (used as well for for insect bites)

I believe that many Thai's use these inhalers more from habit than due to respiratory problems.

I have 2 or 3 myself and albeit the fact that they do help clear the nasal passages I don't have one stuck up my nose every waking minutes as many Thai's seem to do.

[legag]

It helps you to breath easier and eases your headache, sometimes.

Hate when they stick it up in the nose like God has given nose and this thing as a born couple. That is soooo very Thai. Some people CANNOT live without it. Very addictive they said.

[londonthai]

I believe that many Thai's use these inhalers more from habit than due to respiratory problems.

I have 2 or 3 myself and albeit the fact that they do help clear the nasal passages I don't have one stuck up my nose every waking minutes as many Thai's seem to do.

yes, you don't have respiratory problem but many people, especially in Bangkok, do have them - as well as heart problems, sinuses, headaches related to it and many other conditions for whichever the inhaler is used.

Even if it's only habitual and without any medical purpose - it picks you up, freshens, stimulates, alerts. Still much better than smoking (and poisoning others with a passive inhalation), chewing gum or tabaco and spitting them all over the pavements, drinking stimulating drinks like coffee or 'red bull' type of drinks packed with coffeine or indeed taking yaba as a stimulant during working hours to keep you awake (as many commercial drivers, including taxi drivers, still do).

my pet hate is when toothpick is used to clean the ear - I have seen taxi drivers doing it while driving me around. One bump, punctured ear drum and the car spins out of control together with the all passengers inside.

[leisurely]

We once had a taxi driver with an inhaler up each nostril

[londonthai]

24h driving mashine

[lazeeboy]

I hate seeing people with those camphor bottles stuck up their nose. It looks trashy and it can't be too good for you

i bought one of these inhalers about 15 years ago to help me stop smoking

by breaking the habit,every time i wanted a smoke i would sniff on the inhaler.

now 15 years smoke free thanks 100% to this inhaler i still carry one around with me

but only use it once or twice a week

Hmmm, I might try that. Thanks for the idea

i tried that a few years ago ,would'nt light though

[Travel2003]

We once had a taxi driver with an inhaler up each nostril

How did he sound when he tried to speak?

[londonthai]

thai is a tonal language so nose doesn't play that much role as, for example in french language or even english. The inhaller doesn't block air flow to the nose - the driver used both inhalers to have fresher air.

I use them sometimes when there is a bad and heavy smell around - usually on a street choked with fumes. Doesn't suprice me the taxi driver used it - probably his car air con system or air filter was broken.

[Suszzy]

It helps you to breath easier and eases your headache, sometimes.

it does help though if i have a very mild headache but..

it won't work with a real..bad one which i do get quite often

in a hot climate country. i do like the smell..!! nice....

[papaya9]

Perhaps it is ok to use. They just look like junkies to me with a bottle up to their nose, like glue sniffing.

Edited October 1, 2007 by papaya9

[Travel2003]

thai is a tonal language so nose doesn't play that much role as, for example in french language or even english. The inhaller doesn't block air flow to the nose - the driver used both inhalers to have fresher air.

It doesnt block the air flow to the nose?

Guess it is a different type then I was thinking about.

btw

I was presuming the driver maybe spoke a little English, which must have been amusing to listening to, if he had both nostrils blocked.

[fennielyn]

The menthol/pepperpint inhaler is not unique to Thailand. Long before we started importing those cute lil tubes from LOS, the folks here had to rely on good ole, big-ass Vicks which trust me, is way freakier looking stuck up a nostril than the Thai version. I remember being awed by my uncles who had no problem walking around with the HUGE Vicks inhaler in their noses. I myself could never manage that and I should know. =p I've come to the conclusion that guys tend to have bigger nostrils, that's why.

Prickly heat or talcum powder is commonly used after shower for well...the obvious. =) So yea, when applied damp, powder can become somewhat paste-like.

[Aries74]

 Prickly heat or talcum powder is commonly used after shower for well...the obvious. =) So yea, when applied damp, powder can become somewhat paste-like.

Yes, I agree with fennielyn prickly heat powder is good after shower, it really cool you down.

Apply with caution, try not to get the powder in your eyes, and you know what, otherwise you will get the burning sensation.