Forgive me but there's a strong element of "parallell universe" about this thread, one wonders if all posters in this thread actually live in the same Chiang Mai Thailand because experiences are almost opposite.

I cant say much about the dress code as it applies to bare shoulder or baring any skin. I can say however, that most Thai girls keep well covered throughout the day simply to protect their skin from the sun. You may see strappy tops indoors but almost never outdoors.

A modified quote has been removed and reply to it.

Poor OP

Pochina aka Linda..I REALLY recommend using the Ladies forum: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/forum/15-ladies-in-thailand/

Im sure you will find it useful.

Best of luck, welcome to the forum, and i hope you aren't discouraged from staying around!

Might be a good idea to loiter around the school to see what the natives that attend are wearing.

Poor OP

Pochina aka Linda..I REALLY recommend using the Ladies forum: http://www.thaivisa....es-in-thailand/

Im sure you will find it useful.

Best of luck, welcome to the forum, and i hope you aren't discouraged from staying around!

Come on, this is FAR more entertaining then the aunties forum. I looked.

Poor OP

Pochina aka Linda..I REALLY recommend using the Ladies forum: http://www.thaivisa....es-in-thailand/

Im sure you will find it useful.

Best of luck, welcome to the forum, and i hope you aren't discouraged from staying around!

May I suggest the site my wife uses all the time....http;//www.ladyinter.com .... This site you receive sensible answers from people of your own sex. Unlike this forum which is male dominated farangs and replies tend to be more in jest than serious.

In Thailand only girls of a 'certain type' show their shoulders in public.

Come on...you must be joking.

I can assure you, bare shoulders in public, in CM is not OK.

(unless you are a foreigner)

Sorry I just have to laugh at this. I think you must be joking???

AUA is just a small language school.

If it were a University of course dress codes would be stricter.

I have never seen bare shoulders at the Uni I attend. Then again they

require uniforms be worn

Whether or not you go bare shoulders to a small language school is probably up you.

I doubt anyone is going to turn you away. Ultimately it is up to you to decide if it

is proper for the situation.

How is this any different from any other school or institution that anyone has ever been to? I've always noticed that the first day of class that everyone dresses relatively conservative. And as time goes on people become more and more relaxed and where more relaxed clothing. This is the same at work (interview with suit, but business casual the rest of the time). Also, I've been to 5 classes at AUA last year. every class was the same. The new people always start conservative and become more relaxed as time goes on.

And for the record, I've seen bare shoulders, strappy tops, mini skirts, and super short shorts at AUA... Also, keep in mind that they are small rooms with A/C, most girls end up covering up because it gets too cold.

Edited August 2, 201213 yr by CMSteve

Poor OP

Pochina aka Linda..I REALLY recommend using the Ladies forum: http://www.thaivisa....es-in-thailand/

Im sure you will find it useful.

Best of luck, welcome to the forum, and i hope you aren't discouraged from staying around!

May I suggest the site my wife uses all the time....http;//www.ladyinter.com .... This site you receive sensible answers from people of your own sex. Unlike this forum which is male dominated farangs and replies tend to be more in jest than serious.

market trader, the OP has Thai roots, but says she is attending AUA (I assume then for Thai, seeing as her English is so good?). I get the impression that she cannot speak Thai. Thats why the ladies forum might help her. ..or maybe chickynet.com

Edited August 2, 201213 yr by eek

If some people have not noticed the Westernization that is happening in Thailand then they must be in the dark. It was not all that long ago that the Japanese were conservative in their ways. Now, pretty much anything goes in Japan.

Id be very surprised if the OP even bothers to come back again.

No loss to the majority im sure, but imo, some younger fresher positive people in this forum, would be a breath of fresh air.

Yes, apologies to the OP. I think this topic is better over in the ladies forum.

Topic Moved.

Poor OP

Pochina aka Linda..I REALLY recommend using the Ladies forum: http://www.thaivisa....es-in-thailand/

Im sure you will find it useful.

You mean like the girl who posted a question in the on moving with her husband and kids to Ubon in the ladies forum, and getting zero on topic replies but lots of rants on how men in Thailand are or become unfaithful? That poster hasn't been back either, unsurprisingly.

At least we managed to stay firmly on topic here, as the OP started out with:

1. one of the classroom rules is: "dress appropriate. no shorts or tank tops are allowed".

Does it mean that I can't wear "t-shirts" without sleeves, since I ...

In the Chiang Mai forum, anyone can ask *any* question and get an accurate answer within hours. Yes there will be some banter. But hey, it's a free service.

Edit: BTW, if the OP won't be back then it's just as likely due to not being able to find her topic back, now that it was moved to a different forum; it'll drop off the Chiang Mai forum first page before tomorrow.

Edited August 2, 201213 yr by WinnieTheKhwai

Amazingly, you can check your profile to see your topics.

well just had a look at the OP and the few useful and friendly remarks and the amazing number of pointless, useless and generally unhelpful responses and must join in with eek in offering my apologies to the original poster of this thread

As for how to dress, I've seen some shocking clothes from Thai women that I would never wear in public just as I have from western girls

Best advice is to look around and see how others dress and then go with what you are comfortable with. Just because a Thai girl is wearing as eek puts it "bum skimming shorts" does not mean you have to.

Amazingly, you can check your profile to see your topics.

Oh.. didn't know that.

( And that's in four years of fairly frequent forum usage. ) But thanks!

Edited August 2, 201213 yr by WinnieTheKhwai

Poor OP

Pochina aka Linda..I REALLY recommend using the Ladies forum: http://www.thaivisa....es-in-thailand/

Im sure you will find it useful.

You mean like the girl who posted a question in the on moving with her husband and kids to Ubon in the ladies forum, and getting zero on topic replies but lots of rants on how men in Thailand are or become unfaithful? That poster hasn't been back either, unsurprisingly.

At least we managed to stay firmly on topic here, as the OP started out with:

1. one of the classroom rules is: "dress appropriate. no shorts or tank tops are allowed".

Does it mean that I can't wear "t-shirts" without sleeves, since I ...

In the Chiang Mai forum, anyone can ask *any* question and get an accurate answer within hours. Yes there will be some banter. But hey, it's a free service.

Edit: BTW, if the OP won't be back then it's just as likely due to not being able to find her topic back, now that it was moved to a different forum; it'll drop off the Chiang Mai forum first page before tomorrow.

I dont recall reading about the lady moving to Ubon, sounds pretty bad. *EDIT* I have found the thread, and funnily enough, the unfaithful references are coming from men. Im actually shocked at how bad the replies are. No wonder the OP did not return!!!!

Winnie, i honestly think many of the subforums in Thaivisa forum is new member unfriendly.

The negativity and bickering is hard enough to stomach sometimes for seasoned members.

How would all that come across to a 19 year old girl, just hoping for a bit of friendly advice..not really good i expect.

I know LOTS of people that dont go near this forum, because of the often terrible attitudes.

Even if members want to give newbies (or seasoned members) a reality check, it can be done so in a helpful manner.

I understand about banter etc, and i like debate.. but do we really need to be frightening members off?

There is also very little male/female balance. Many members may actually WANT that though!'

Anyway..apologies. Off topic. I wont comment further on this part. Again..good luck OP...hope you come back!

Edited August 2, 201213 yr by eek

+1

I confirm that some people are definitely put off by some of the "banter,"but it is more civilized most of the time around here than it used to be.

I dont recall reading about the lady moving to Ubon, sounds pretty bad. *EDIT* I have found the thread, and funnily enough, the unfaithful references are coming from men. Im actually shocked at how bad the replies are. No wonder the OP did not return!!!!

I don't think the apparent gender of some posters in that topic impacts my comment: you recommended this sub-forum as being better/friendlier/more welcoming than the Chiang Mai forum; I mentioned this topic to highlight that this isn't necessarily the case.

> Winnie, i honestly think many of the subforums in Thaivisa forum is new member unfriendly.

I think so too, though that is typical of almost any forum; it gets cliquey and new members need to persist a little and have thick skin.

> The negativity and bickering is hard enough to stomach sometimes for seasoned members.

I think so too. Don't know what to do about it though, other than turning it into Tripadvisor-levels of nannying, which would also kill the forum.

> How would all that come across to a 19 year old girl, just hoping for a bit of friendly advice..not really good i expect.

> I know LOTS of people that dont go near this forum, because of the often terrible attitudes.

Me too.

Even if members want to give newbies (or seasoned members) a reality check, it can be done so in a helpful manner.

I understand about banter etc, and i like debate.. but do we really need to be frightening members off?

There is also very little male/female balance. Many members may actually WANT that though!'

Well, this is Thailand; there IS an imbalance. Heck, hardcore computer gaming forums have a better male/female balance!

Do hope the OP comes back.

Edited August 2, 201213 yr by WinnieTheKhwai

Actually winniethekwai, I have many female friends in Chiang Mai, in fact I have a rather large circle of female friends. Some married, many single. Most under the age of 50. I think that the circle of friends you end up with depends largely on your location. Chiang Mai in the city is quite a thriving community of foreigners and Thais who generally interact quite a bit. Although reading the Chiang Mai forum you would never know it. I learned quickly that there are many layers to society here and only a very few of the foreigners that post on this forum have ever found more than one.

That said I do hope that Puchina is not put off Thaivisa or Chiang Mai with some of the really inane comments here. Feel free to PM me if you need advice

Hey thanks for all the answers - even though not all posts were relevant to the subject, I still found the reading quite amusing.

- And to those who wondered, no you didn't scare me off that easily.

Hey thanks for all the answers - even though not all posts were relevant to the subject, I still found the reading quite amusing.

- And to those who wondered, no you didn't scare me off that easily.

Good to see that you are not put off by the members on this forum. It needs input from younger members. Enjoy your stay in Thailand and this forum.

In Thailand only girls of a 'certain type' show their shoulders in public.

Nipples outlines are also considered extremely rude.

I wouldn't worry about shorts or dress length, nobody else does.

what utter nonsense.

dress etiquette is situational and blanket statements like this are both wrong and misleading

Edited August 5, 201213 yr by sbk
inappropriate reference removed- you should know better

@pochinda.......you will love Chiang Mai, it will bring you the best of both worlds, you can stay within the tourist areas quite easily, however you will also find some top class predominantly Thai clubs and nightclubs, as mentioned earlier places such as Monkey Club and Warm Up are top class.

You will find exactly what you are looking for, and you won't be long making new friends at the school.....one wee word of warning though, don't use your school mates as the basis of your social life, try to integrate more into Thai society than with other people who are attending the same course as you. You will learn Thai much faster and pick up on the culture faster too.

So come to Thailand and try to mix with Thais, it's too easy to sit in the toursit zones with Europeans.

Not sure, perhaps you have already started classes by now so might not be relevant

As others have suggested, in many ways Thailand has moved past its conservative dress sense .....certainly in bangkok.

So you COULD wear shorts, short skirts or even some strappy tops without getting frowned at.

Personally, I would not wear very short shorts, super mini skirts, nor the tiny spaghetti straps tops. Nor would I wear something showing cleavage.

But that's just the way I am.

Some may feel more comfortable with either one or all of the above

And I do wear some of the above in some situations. But wouldn't wear it to class. Even if it's not a uni or formal school.

Someone else said....start out conservative until you learn more what others do or how they dress.

All the best, and welcome home

Ps. Enough of the off topic 'banter' further such post will be removed.