Long nail.....

[ika]

Ok, this might be a weird question.... But why does some Thai people have a long pinkie nail when the rest of the nails are short....? What does it stand for?

[boosta]

Another general "good luck" thing like the mole hair?

I always interpreted it as status - "I don't need to do manual labor. . ."

Or maybe just for convenience - opening envelopes, fishing stuff out of little places, picking one's nose, earwax, snorting drugs. . .

[mogandave]

Clitter-flitter.

[GooEng]

Idiotic status symbol. Rarely seen on middle class Thais with clean office jobs. Other than motorcycle taxis and taxi cab drivers for some reason it seems to be most often sported by layabouts and other miscreants. Rather than signifying a life of non-manual labour it tends to point out a life of little or no labour at all.

[Loptr]

Probably the same reason I keep my pinkie-finger nails long. To pick my nose.

[Loptr]

Idiotic status symbol. Rarely seen on middle class Thais with clean office jobs. Other than motorcycle taxis and taxi cab drivers for some reason it seems to be most often sported by layabouts and other miscreants. Rather than signifying a life of non-manual labour it tends to point out a life of little or no labour at all.

Just a bit derogatory aren't we?

[RakJungTorlae]

it is kind of expressing the Hoodlum in ones personality. GooEng said that its not seen in middle class Thais witch is correct . this trend was 1st seen in the young Yakuza witch are really called yanki.

if adult Thais are doing this to express them self in a way it is very juvenile mob mentality.

[yoslim]

young lazy jobless criminal pimp all go well in hand with this practice, I let you mix it up as you wish..

[ika]

it is kind of expressing the Hoodlum in ones personality. GooEng said that its not seen in middle class Thais witch is correct . this trend was 1st seen in the young Yakuza witch are really called yanki.

if adult Thais are doing this to express them self in a way it is very juvenile mob mentality.

Thanks for that. I don't know about Yakuza so I Googled it. It says it is "members of transnational organized crime syndicates in Japan". Is that what you're talking about?

The first person I noticed having this nail was my private Thai teacher.

[ika]

Another general "good luck" thing like the mole hair?

I always interpreted it as status - "I don't need to do manual labor. . ."

Or maybe just for convenience - opening envelopes, fishing stuff out of little places, picking one's nose, earwax, snorting drugs. . .

I find the 3rd one quite useful. I'm thinking of growing a nail myself.

[RakJungTorlae]

it is kind of expressing the Hoodlum in ones personality. GooEng said that its not seen in middle class Thais witch is correct . this trend was 1st seen in the young Yakuza witch are really called yanki.

if adult Thais are doing this to express them self in a way it is very juvenile mob mentality.

Thanks for that. I don't know about Yakuza so I Googled it. It says it is "members of transnational organized crime syndicates in Japan". Is that what you're talking about?

The first person I noticed having this nail was my private Thai teacher.

Not exactly i was referring to there young recruits, Street thugs juvenile hoodlums Japanese called them Yankis,

[canman]

Idiotic status symbol. Rarely seen on middle class Thais with clean office jobs. Other than motorcycle taxis and taxi cab drivers for some reason it seems to be most often sported by layabouts and other miscreants. Rather than signifying a life of non-manual labour it tends to point out a life of little or no labour at all.

Just a bit derogatory aren't we?

I think GooEng is spot on and it's not just Thailand, you see the same <deleted> all over asia. You will never see anyone of status with a long pinky nail, it's almost always the low life who feel a need to identify themselves as one who does not do any meaningful work.

[johntren]

When I asked about this in Malaysia the guy wordlessly put it in his ear, gave it a good twist and inspected the results . I kind of lost interest after that.

Sent from my GT-S7500 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[ravip]

Seems it is not an exclusive Thai habit, nor limited to a certain area in this world as some of us seems to think!

So why do the others do it?

For the same reasons?

For an example, have a look here

[chrisinth]

A sharpened, hardened nail is a dangerous weapon and can be a sign of prison time.

Or of a man who opens a lot of envelopes......

In the old days in China, long fingernails were a sign you were rich and didn't do manual labor. Now they grow out the pinkie as a sign of culture, breeding and wealth.

No doubt there's some truth to this, and wannabes in Asia try to emulate this.

[watcharacters]

i cant see what good simply putting up with it will do. i have construction across the street and while i realize that they have to make some noise, i drew thee line at the no stop radio cranking out morlam at the same time.

i walked across the street, had a word with the manager, explained to him i had been in what was my once very quiet house for the last 12 years and work from home and while I understood that they had to make some noise to work, the radio was over the top.

he understood, pulled the plug on the radio and has since made an effort to do any noisy cutting or the like as far away from my property as possible.

if i hadn't tried, i could be dancing to morlam now, but i did try, so it is as quiet as can b expected under the circumstances.

funny how that works out.

.

You may have been lucky..

and what would i been had i not tried?

software glitch I believe. This was from another post and somehow it showed up here.

[watcharacters]

.

I thought a long nail was grown by some for use as a tool for snorting drugs.