Thai women's obsession with white skin could cause health problems, study says

[webfact]

Thai women's obsession with white skin could cause health problems, study says
By Coconuts Bangkok

BANGKOK: -- Many Thai women are the risk of vitamin D deficiency and an increased risk of bone disease when they get older because of their obsession with avoiding the sun, according to a new study by Chulalongkorn University.

Thanomwong Kritpet, a lecturer at Chulalongkorn University’s faculty of sport science, said a study of women aged 25-40 years showed that they had an average vitamin D level in their blood of only 20 nanogrammes per milliliter, which is below the minimum health standard of 30.

She attributed this low vitamin D level to the obsession of many women to have white skin.

Many of them spend all their time indoors, Thanomwong said, further reducing the opportunity for their skin to be exposed to the sun.

Exposure of the skin to sunlight stimulates the production of vitamin D in the body, which helps the absorption of calcium in the intestines into the blood. [read more...]

Full story: http://bangkok.coconuts.co/2013/09/16/thai-womens-obsession-white-skin-could-cause-health-problems-study-says


-- Coconuts Bangkok 2013-09-16

[Kananga]

What a sad way to live one's life. Worried about how you may be negatively perceived on a bizarre, racial hierarchical social scale by complete strangers to the point that you don't go outside.

TIT

Edited September 16, 2013 by Kananga

[laurentbkk]

20 years ago I started to import whitening product in Thailand , 100% natural , as some product such as Licorice or Vitamin C can light the skin ... the problem is those chemical cream that is used in Africa container product which can cause Cancer. such as Hydroquinon.

[lujanit]

It's always been the same and will continue to be so. White birds want to be brown and brown chicks want to be white. Nuff said.

[Thai at Heart]

What a load of twaddle. An average Thai will get more daily glimpses of sun daily, trying to stay out of it, than most Europeans get trying to get into it.

[RickeyParkany]

Duh! to the health concerns (chemical as well as natural), status beats out health, w/o a second thought; as for the ethno-cultural aspects: You can /never/ be *white enough*, so don't even /start/ _that_ game... ;-} rap.

[A1Str8]

Good thing they realized that this funny obsession poses several problems.

Sent from one of my devices using the internet

[Estrada]

Thai ladies often ask me if foreigners like them with white skin. I always tell them the truth. The truth is that when we see a Lady with pale skin and an ashen face, we think that they are very ill and rush them off to hospital. A natural tanned skin looks a lot better.

Edited September 16, 2013 by metisdead
Large font reset to normal.

[abhaya]

I think the real problem is getting one of my eyes gouged out by one of these gals umbrella who are afraid of turning black and cant be bothered to wear a hat.

[belg]

sometimes i think i see a ghost, but than again, it is only a girl with very unnatural white face, and mostly, the rest of the body is not that white

[Thai at Heart]

What a load of twaddle. An average Thai will get more daily glimpses of sun daily, trying to stay out of it, than most Europeans get trying to get into it.

I think you'll find that the Thai's are more than capable of staying out of the sun if they choose to?

Baring in mind that to produce Vitamin D, it actually has to touch bare skin, a culture which encourages women to cover themselves from head to toe to maintain their modesty hardly helps either. You only need a few minutes a day, and just walking around is more than enough.

[AlaskaDave]

What a load of twaddle. An average Thai will get more daily glimpses of sun daily, trying to stay out of it, than most Europeans get trying to get into it.

Not necessarily. My GF's 22 year-old daughter will not go out in the daytime at all. She lives her life at night and sleeps during the day. And all this is to avoid the sun. Even my GF is crazy about staying out of the sun as much as possible. She does go out in the daylight hours but wears long pants and sleeves along with the ever present umbrella when she does.

This white skin thing is insane. I understand where it comes from but Thais, even men, carry it to extremes. I plead with my gal to take Vitamin D pills. However, there is no feeling of need on her part. She takes them only because I insist.

[metisdead]

A post containing a derogatory slur toward Isaan women has been removed as well as the replies.

7) Not to post slurs or degrading comments directed towards any group on the basis of race, nationality, religion, gender or sexual orientation.

8) Not to post extremely negative views of Thailand or derogatory comments directed towards all Thais.

[cup-O-coffee]

...could cause health problems?

How about dispensing with the faux concern over the health problems (vain people embalming themselves) and begin focusing on the severe mental disorders associated with obsessive compulsive behaviors?

Didn't think so.

[harber8]

Maybe they are vampires.

[masuk]

One of the chemicals used in 90% of soap and body wash on sale here, is a bleach. It's either Sodium Hydroxide or Potassium Hydroxide.
They not only bleach the skin, but remove some body fats under the skin, causing excessive drying.

There is a strange misconception here about preventing Thai skin from going brown. My landlady never fails to don a face mask when she's frying, as she is worried the heat of the cooking will cause her face to become brown.

Personally, I think brown is rather nice.

[bigbamboo]

What a load of twaddle. An average Thai will get more daily glimpses of sun daily, trying to stay out of it, than most Europeans get trying to get into it.

Not necessarily. My GF's 22 year-old daughter will not go out in the daytime at all. She lives her life at night and sleeps during the day. And all this is to avoid the sun. Even my GF is crazy about staying out of the sun as much as possible. She does go out in the daylight hours but wears long pants and sleeves along with the ever present umbrella when she does.

This white skin thing is insane. I understand where it comes from but Thais, even men, carry it to extremes. I plead with my gal to take Vitamin D pills. However, there is no feeling of need on her part. She takes them only because I insist.

This isn't just a Thai thing. In the UK there plenty of young people who live their lives at night and sleep all day too.

We call them students.

[itsrebel]

Yeah...try and tell that to women in South Asia, or even men for that matter. They have skin whitening creams for men, and they do good business too!

[bbbbooboo]

I hate to repeat myself. Stupid is what stupid does

[Muhendis]

Insufficient vitamin D (sunshine to you) causes bone problems. Anyone ever heard of rickets? Also I note that the definition of "farange" is a white person. I wonder if they would eventually need to apply for a farang visa...........

[Bluespunk]

"Thai women's obsession with white skin could cause health problems, study says"

Duh!!

[fxloader]

Put them in science class , to understand the mechanism of skin ..

[rosst]

Just sad really, the same company sells sh&t to make Thais white and sh%t to make Aussies brown, go figure.

Thank god I am balding, a little chubby and do not give a shit.

[laislica]

The actions of Vitamin D are not well known to the majority of people nor that a deficiency is dangerous to overall health besauce, amongst other things, the immune system will be weakened which opens the door to all sorts of problems..

One of it´s important actions is to direct calcium to the teeth and bones, if short of vitamin D, the chances are that calcium will be deposited in the arteries, in the heart etc.

The Brit government realised that it would prevent bone diseases like Rickets and urged dairy products to be supplemented.

It is cheap to make and solves many health problems and Big Pharma is not interested in doing proper research because they do not see the profit in preventing disease.

If taking a D supplement, make sure it´s D3 because that form is easiest for the body to use.

Great to read some of the posts here from folk whu recognise the importance of Vitamin D.

If you want more detailed info give good old Google a go and find out for yourselves.

[Suroo]

This report comes from Chualalongkorn University which in my opinion is itself part of the problem.

I visited the campus last year and saw hundreds of white-skinned students-the progeny of the Chinese Amart. I saw only 5 browned skinned people and they were sweeping up leaves.

The deadly equation goes like this;

white-skinned amart=wealth/influence.

The equation is cummutative.

My friend went into Siam paragon with his issarn male friend recently. In the elevator the issarn guy was rebuked in thai by a little old chinese lady who waved the keys of a top model car in his face- just for being there it seems. To my friend's amazement the issarn friend hung his head and made no reply.

This issue is more than skin-deep.

[dighambara]

20 years ago I started to import whitening product in Thailand , 100% natural , as some product such as Licorice or Vitamin C can light the skin ... the problem is those chemical cream that is used in Africa container product which can cause Cancer. such as Hydroquinon.

It's always been the same and will continue to be so. White birds want to be brown and brown chicks want to be white. Nuff said.

SO STRANGE..!!! White men come here to meet exotic brown women and those same exotic brown women are having plastic surgery and using creams to be 'white'.

The most beautiful women here are the ones who want to be as they were meant to be.

Edited September 16, 2013 by dighambara

[personchester]

Women will get bone density after menopause, as a result they should take vitamin's in order to deal with this, what they need is ... Calcium, Vitamin D 2. and Vitamin K 2. or eat the right nutrition with those contents.

They are of course not prepared stay out in the sun in order to get vitamin D. because they know that their skin gets dark as a result.

Nor should they stay out in the sun for the purpose of getting vitamin D. because it causes physical and mental problems.

To retain their skin whitish and protect their bone density which is very important, they should take the above outlined vitamin's which are available in many pharmacies, or appropriate nutrition's for this purpose.

[Jogden]

I'm working here offshore in the Gulf of Thailand and find that the blokes are worse than the girls.

Blokes are totally covered with the face mask and then the darkest safety glasses and a hard hat with a shade wrap, gloves. Good job most have their names printed on their hard hats...Ok the girls aren't working out in the sun all day, but when they leave the accommodation block they aren't covered up in the fashion of the blokes when they do come out. My wife is from central Thailand and couldn't give two stuffs if she's dark or white.

John.

[ripstanley]

Less skin cancer in Thailand then in Australia.

[ravip]

How about frying in the hot tropical sun?

Edit: Isn't that a more pathetic way of dying? Human being seems to thrive on picking on others faults.

Guess, who are the experts on that?

Edited September 16, 2013 by ravip