Why Do Thai Girls Wear Fake Dental Brackets

[bangkokcitylimits]

At the markets they sell fake brackets in fancy kitty colors and baby blue for 30b. and many teens (and even beyond ) love to wear them.

How can you turn something for medical-cosmetic need, that's no fun to wear, into something useless and see it as 'fashion' ?

Really don't get it, what's wrong with those people...

[likewise]

probably a silly fashion thing, new years eve my neighbour's daughter was wearing glasses even though she has normal eye sight

[bangkokcitylimits]

probably a silly fashion thing, new years eve my neighbour's daughter was wearing glasses even though she has normal eye sight

Haha... guess there a huge open market here for fake fancy looking medicines too !

[Payboy]

Why does Larry King wear suspenders?

[bangkokcitylimits]

Why does Larry King wear suspenders?

to hold up his pants, he hates them tight fit.

[BillR]

When I was a stockbroker, I wore fake glasses to appear smarter and Im pretty sure I got more business because of that.

[CWMcMurray]

I have heard it said that Braces are relatively new to Thailand. Previously there was not a large enough "middle class" who could afford them. So now it is not uncommon for many older folks with Bad teeth to just start getting braces as they did not have the opportunity to get them when they were younger.

Given that there are a purely cosmetic (make your mile look nicer), only those with enough extra disposable income can afford them. So this means that Braces are considered a status symbol because only the well off can afford them. So someone came up with the idea of creating "fake braces", so that those who could not afford them could still where them for fashion/status.

Having needed to wear braces in High school for about 3-4 years, I can not imagine wearing them "just for fun". I have also heard that in many cases the "Fake Braces" are unsafe and have caused some to ruin their teeth or get sick and there was a push to try to get kids to stop wearing them a couple years back.

[neverdie]

Its a fashion thing & I recall it wasnt that long ago that a young lass was poisoned by the adhesive & died from a set.

Silly stuff for silly people.

[bangkokcitylimits]

I have heard it said that Braces are relatively new to Thailand. Previously there was not a large enough "middle class" who could afford them. So now it is not uncommon for many older folks with Bad teeth to just start getting braces as they did not have the opportunity to get them when they were younger.

Given that there are a purely cosmetic (make your mile look nicer), only those with enough extra disposable income can afford them. So this means that Braces are considered a status symbol because only the well off can afford them. So someone came up with the idea of creating "fake braces", so that those who could not afford them could still where them for fashion/status.

Having needed to wear braces in High school for about 3-4 years, I can not imagine wearing them "just for fun". I have also heard that in many cases the "Fake Braces" are unsafe and have caused some to ruin their teeth or get sick and there was a push to try to get kids to stop wearing them a couple years back.

Interesting

[bkkjames]

Perhaps they are trying to leave their mark on the world of fashion that is.

[Moonrakers]

[apetley]

The daughter of one of my wifes friends used to wear these for a while.

When I realised they were the fake ones I asked her why she wore them.

'Because my friends do' was her reply.

Teenage fashion I guess.....beats me

[StateSix]

probably a silly fashion thing, new years eve my neighbour's daughter was wearing glasses even though she has normal eye sight

Not as daft as the ones I've seen walking around wearing the frames only. No lens in them at all

[Berkshire]

You guys amaze me. Young people have been trying to ruffle the feathers of old folks since the beginning of time. From the mop top, to the hippie generation, to the baggie pants (that ride low), to body piercing, to the elevator shoes, to rap music, to the backwards ballcap, and so on. I'm sure back in the caveman days, cavechildren would wear their fur skins in a goofy way just to show the old folgies that they have their own fashion sense. The more perplexed and offended you are, the better.

Newsflash: The young folks don't care if you approve of their fashion statement, nor do they care if you even understand it. In fact, the more you don't "get it," the better.

[bkkjames]

You guys amaze me. Young people have been trying to ruffle the feathers of old folks since the beginning of time. From the mop top, to the hippie generation, to the baggie pants (that ride low), to body piercing, to the elevator shoes, to rap music, to the backwards ballcap, and so on. I'm sure back in the caveman days, cavechildren would wear their fur skins in a goofy way just to show the old folgies that they have their own fashion sense. The more perplexed and offended you are, the better.

Newsflash: The young folks don't care if you approve of their fashion statement, nor do they care if you even understand it. In fact, the more you don't "get it," the better.

We get it Berk, we just don't like it.

[carmine]

You guys amaze me. Young people have been trying to ruffle the feathers of old folks since the beginning of time. From the mop top, to the hippie generation, to the baggie pants (that ride low), to body piercing, to the elevator shoes, to rap music, to the backwards ballcap, and so on. I'm sure back in the caveman days, cavechildren would wear their fur skins in a goofy way just to show the old folgies that they have their own fashion sense. The more perplexed and offended you are, the better.

Newsflash: The young folks don't care if you approve of their fashion statement, nor do they care if you even understand it. In fact, the more you don't "get it," the better.

I'm hearing you mate, i really am. But, deliberately trying to make yourself less attractive than you might be to the opposite sex is nevertheless rather "goofy" isn't it? Addad to that, none of the above you mentioned seems as ridiculously stupid as modelling your railings on a James Bond super villain.

[Heng]

20 somethings do it to look like teenagers. Everyone else over 30 are just grasping at straws.

[GarryP]

To piss off their parent(hese)s.

[Berkshire]

You guys amaze me. Young people have been trying to ruffle the feathers of old folks since the beginning of time. From the mop top, to the hippie generation, to the baggie pants (that ride low), to body piercing, to the elevator shoes, to rap music, to the backwards ballcap, and so on. I'm sure back in the caveman days, cavechildren would wear their fur skins in a goofy way just to show the old folgies that they have their own fashion sense. The more perplexed and offended you are, the better.

Newsflash: The young folks don't care if you approve of their fashion statement, nor do they care if you even understand it. In fact, the more you don't "get it," the better.

I'm hearing you mate, i really am. But, deliberately trying to make yourself less attractive than you might be to the opposite sex is nevertheless rather "goofy" isn't it? Addad to that, none of the above you mentioned seems as ridiculously stupid as modelling your railings on a James Bond super villain.

I'm not a huge fan of body piercing or baggie pants (that ride low)--do those things make people more attractive? By the way, you ever been with a girl who wears braces? Don't knock it til....oh nevermind.

[lopburi3]

It is a 50k investment if real. Just like that BlackBerry they have to have or the gold jewelry they will be wanting in the future. Madonna said it. Material World.

It's not just teenagers - why do we wear that fake watch, or suit, or luggage or, or, or.

[TAWP]

I know several 25-35 women that wear real braces, finally being able to afford them when starting to work in an office after university and from a non-rich family.

But I on the other hand also know some that wear it as fashion, including the image that they have money to do it...

[JemJem]

probably a silly fashion thing, new years eve my neighbour's daughter was wearing glasses even though she has normal eye sight

Not as daft as the ones I've seen walking around wearing the frames only. No lens in them at all

Hahahahaha.....that's a new one for me.....amazing

[phaethon]

I went into a Dentist opposite On Nut to enquire about prices and was seriously put off by the receptionist who had enough bedazzled scaffolding in her mouth to build a full scale model of the Eiffel tower.

Couldn't get out of there fast enough... if that's what they do to their staff...

[slapout]

Another example of self delusion by one reaching for acceptance or conformance to the latest fad. Vanity can be a mystery to those looking from the outside.

[AmeriThai]

probably a silly fashion thing, new years eve my neighbour's daughter was wearing glasses even though she has normal eye sight

Not as daft as the ones I've seen walking around wearing the frames only. No lens in them at all

LOL! Frames only. Still, that isn't quite as weird as this guy with tattooed eyeglasses.

[Tywais]

Thai authorities to ban fake braces - January 2006

Health authorities are clamping down on the Thai teenage fashion fad of wearing fake orthodontic braces by targeting those who sell and make the pseudo-dental gear with steep fines and prison time.

Girls flashing multicoloured metallic grins are regularly featured in teen magazines as braces have become more common in Thailand, transforming the dental gear detested by Western youths into a fashion statement.

Article in BP shows a "new" crackdown in 2009/2010.

[Tonto21]

To all who have posted stating “I just don’t get it” trust me these kids are laughing just as hard at what you’re wearing, as you are at them. These kids are normal kids, doing normal things that kids do. If you didn’t wear or do anything that made the older generation of your time pull a face, Then you never had a youth, were you born 50 years old?

[kurnell]

I know a bloke that hates the taste of beer but drinks it all the time just to fit in. He grimaces and pulls a face as it is going down, and is often heard to say 'beeeuatiful', but openly admits that he hates the taste.

[jaideeguy]

The wife tells me that it's a Korean fashion thing and Thais copy anything Korean. But, the truth is that Thai cuteness is much cuter than Korean cuteness.

[TAWP]

I know a bloke that hates the taste of beer but drinks it all the time just to fit in. He grimaces and pulls a face as it is going down, and is often heard to say 'beeeuatiful', but openly admits that he hates the taste.

Why on earth...err...that is a way too needy friend. Uhm, can he borrow out some cash?