Thais Wanting To Be White - The Lengths They'll Go To

[Chopper71]

I never could understand why people find this so fascinating or odd. All over America white people are going to tanning salons and taking all sorts of expensive treatments to become darker skinned.

I think that one of the important differences is that in the west people don't think that getting a tan will lead to them earning more money, being more highly thought of etc.. Also I've never heard of anyone in the West taking cancer medication to get a tan but this has happened in Thailand to get white, which is dangerous and shows the lengths some will go to.

[Starlifter]

White On!

It's a media driven society now. Folks just want to emulate what thy see and perceive what is popular. I do agree with other posts about different regions of the globe have different perspectives on what is beauty. All I know is there is a TON of money to be made to go either way. Me, I like mine golden tan!

[Richb2004v2]

Is it any worse than westerners here trying so so hard to be Thai, with their Buddhist amulets etc Actually, yes it probably is.

[phetaroi]

I never could understand why people find this so fascinating or odd. All over America white people are going to tanning salons and taking all sorts of expensive treatments to become darker skinned.

I think that one of the important differences is that in the west people don't think that getting a tan will lead to them earning more money, being more highly thought of etc.. Also I've never heard of anyone in the West taking cancer medication to get a tan but this has happened in Thailand to get white, which is dangerous and shows the lengths some will go to.

I personally know people who have insisted on an appointment at the tanning salon before a series of job interviews...in America. And before a wedding.

[phetaroi]

Is it any worse than westerners here trying so so hard to be Thai, with their Buddhist amulets etc Actually, yes it probably is.

So in your mind people should be trapped in a religious belief from wherever they were born?

[jcbangkok]

And the girls in the west want little noses, thin bodies and tan skin.

[bendejo]

I think that one of the important differences is that in the west people don't think that getting a tan will lead to them earning more money, being more highly thought of etc..

...

In the West having a "nice tan" may make it easier to get laid

[Chonburiram]

I never could understand why people find this so fascinating or odd. All over America white people are going to tanning salons and taking all sorts of expensive treatments to become darker skinned.

I think that one of the important differences is that in the west people don't think that getting a tan will lead to them earning more money, being more highly thought of etc.. Also I've never heard of anyone in the West taking cancer medication to get a tan but this has happened in Thailand to get white, which is dangerous and shows the lengths some will go to.

I personally know people who have insisted on an appointment at the tanning salon before a series of job interviews...in America. And before a wedding.

I know of doctors/medical staff back in Europe who are sunbathing/go to the tanning salon regular for looking more " healthy " in their already white working clothes

( who likes to go/trust an unhealthy looking doctor? ).

[galvheim]

New studies also suggest that talcum powder may cause lung-cancer. It is also known that it may contain traces of asbestos. They use this all the time, just to feel dry, and sometimes excessively when applying makeup. It especially turns out bad on pictures if using flash.

[somtampet]

This is a phenomenon that exists in all countries that we now have started to call "emerging economies". These countries are to be found (at) or south of the aequator. Most of the people are dark skinned. But the ruling "Elte" is lighter skinned (if not white). Therefore: Light skin is associated with "Wealth, Health and Success in general". Thailand is no exeption.

If you watch Thai TV you will see a lot of "white" people running the show. If you look at people in power, may it be on a managerial/business level or in politics you will also see a lot of "white people".

According to my (Thai) wife: A light skinned Thai person stands for "pretty, well educated, well mannered, and not short of money". Period! = Dark skinned people from the Isan stand for exactly the opposite.

Can one blame the Isan-Girls in Pattaya for spending a fortune on becoming "more white" ? (And possibly ruining their facial skin by appliying "low cost cosmetic products, made ein china"?). We all have seen them: Distorted skin (mainly on the cheeks=looking like "pimples" of a teeenager but 10 times worse!! We all have seen it.

This is the price that people (at) or south of the aequator are willing th pay to look more "pretty, more educated, more well mannered, and not short of money"! A sad state of affairs, but fact not fiction !

Cheers.

I agree with what you say but the reality is that they are not well mannered they are nasty snobbish and very arragant people,who dont give a rats ass about anybody but themselves.

I despise them with a passion

[somtampet]

It's not just skin whitening products is it?!

As has been pointed out above there's a whole rake of plastic surgery being used to 'Westernize' looks here in Thailand.

Not to mention bleaching hair to get as close to a blond as is possible, blue, green and grey contact lenses.

And the whitening is not just 'Products' applied to the skin - There's a whole underground drug industry supplying the drugs Thais are taking to whiten their skin.

As for being proud to be dark skin - That's something I've never heard a Thai express. While I doubt a day goes by without me hearing some derogatory remark made by Thais about dark skin.

Thats called racism mate,one of the worst places in the world for that.

[tomyummer]

All you fools think the Thais want to be white in relations to the west?

Dummies. It's a Chinese thing. In old China, a porcelain white woman symbolized someone that didn't work in the rice fields or any other hard labor outside in the sun. It was a sign of prosperity where the husband was wealthy enough that his wife didn't have to work. So much so that often, before the government banned the practice, women had their feet bound. This, meaning their feet were painfully wrapped all the time since a young age so that their feet would not grow. If you google it, it's pretty gross. As it was painful to even walk, these wives stayed indoors.

In Thailand, this attraction to white skin initially came from this Chinese idea in relations to wealth. And of course, this sickly 'Hi So' society continues on.

In the west, having a tan is more attractive because it can mean that you play sports outside or are basically active. As opposed to the jaundice looking, gecko underbelly white.

Growing up in a tropical place in the west, I always had a tan from surfing and sports. During the schools days, the darker you were the cooler it was with your friends. We often had tanning comparisons from the beach. Tanning salons were frowned upon as we thought they were for people with no access to the beach or fake surfers from California. Fake carrot skinned tans.

From the college days I was continuously teased by my friends for becoming so pale and losing my color. Now in Asia, I'm white as hel_l sitting on my ass in an office most of the time. dam_n shame.

A good tan to me is always nice.

It's all cultural people. But the quest to be white by the Thais is influenced from China. Today, even more so from Korea.

Edited May 2, 2010 by tomyummer

[tomyummer]

I never could understand why people find this so fascinating or odd. All over America white people are going to tanning salons and taking all sorts of expensive treatments to become darker skinned.

I think that one of the important differences is that in the west people don't think that getting a tan will lead to them earning more money, being more highly thought of etc.. Also I've never heard of anyone in the West taking cancer medication to get a tan but this has happened in Thailand to get white, which is dangerous and shows the lengths some will go to.

I personally know people who have insisted on an appointment at the tanning salon before a series of job interviews...in America. And before a wedding.

I know of doctors/medical staff back in Europe who are sunbathing/go to the tanning salon regular for looking more " healthy " in their already white working clothes

( who likes to go/trust an unhealthy looking doctor? ).

Pretty vain to go and get a fake tan. Fits the bill in the US to go with all the reality shows and social downfalls now. Only a matter of time when the scientific community fully reports that it's the best lead to skin cancer. Decades from now we'll all laugh about yet another "what stupid things we used to do" invention. Right up there with the original x-ray shoe sizer which was used upon the discovery of x-rays years ago.

As an employer I would take it as taking too many vacations and not being in the office enough.

[hhgz]

"Thais Wanting To Be White"

Why are you narrowing your comments to Thais? Citizens in other countries (china and Japan, for example), prefer lighter skin. It's a proven fact that sunlight makes a skin age quicker: you like the look, and many people do not.