Thailand To Order Models To Cover Up

[george]

Thailand to order models to cover up

Thailand’s culture ministry has announced plans to regulate the behaviour of models on the catwalk, including ordering them to keep their breasts covered, a report said Saturday.

The move comes after the ministry rapped the local edition of Elle magazine in November for running a fashion show at which models paraded in flimsy clothes that exposed their breasts.

The display caused a sensation in conservative Thailand and a furore when tabloid newspapers splashed photos of the parade in their pages. Culture Minister Anurak Jureemas told the Nation newspaper that a new committee would draft regulations ordering models to cover-up or face fines, higher taxes or a public denouncement.

“For example, we could reward models who complied with the regulations as the best-dressed people of the year and punish the violators by denouncing them as the worst-dressed people of the year,” Anurak said. Top model Methinee Kingpayome slammed the plan as “ridiculous”.

“I am confused and tired with this ministry. I guarantee that if the ministry issues trivial regulations like the ones that have been announced, Bangkok will never become a fashion city,” she said.

—AFP 2004-01-11

[marquess]

One would have thought that the law enforcement agencies would have better things to do, than going round worry about girls tits. Look at all the problems in the South, corruption, drunk driving, but to name a few. They will only serve to make themselves the laughing stock of the world

[Nat]

Saw some of the photos from the show and compared to most catwalks they actually didn't wear anything too revealing. Now if they had worn the (breast revealing) Gaultier number that Madonna wore as she shaked her toosh on the catwalk I could understand the uproar. However, this is Thailand and if it is considered culturally disrespectful, well than so be it. Think Bangkok will have difficulty becoming a fashion capital with these laws - most haute couture shows, even some pret-a-porter ones, have revealing outfits which the designers scream are "art". For Bangkok to come close to Milan, London, Paris and New York it needs to master the art of air kissing and how to sashay, shante