I've seen lots of regular girls/woman swimming in their bikinis. I must have been born under a lucky star..

OP, did you know that many thais prefer to have pale skin?

Sent from my HTC One using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Not in Issan or Northern Thailand.

Excuse me!!!! " you know the ones I'm talking about... the old girls are past their used by date. The ladies that have spent many years with farang"

My wife has spent many years with me, and trust me she is not past her used by date. She's still a little goer and just as good as she was when I met her years ago. You must of picked a bad one LOL. Never mind, you'll get over it, if not there's always Pattaya Beach Road to pick up a new one.

OP

foregtting about Thai culture for a minute and trying to be reasonable ( an anomaly on this site)

Do you not remember not that long ago in the western world a bikini was scandalous.

Go back to the 1920's and even men wore bathing suits that covered their whole body.

You need remember something.

In a lot of villages and areas it is scandalous and girls are taught that good girls do not show any skin.

hell that used to be the same in Canada . Am I the only person here old enough to remember when girls started wearing mini skirts.

It has taken me a while to get my gf to wear a bikini or to go bra less both of them sins in her upbringing.

It did not happen until we were at Koh Samet where no one knew her and she could just relax. Now she realizes how good she looks in a bathing suit and enjoys it.

There were still a lot of Thais that wore their clothes in swimming.

2 young girls went snorkeling with us and were fully clothed Bra, t shirt and blouse. Only thing they forgot was that thin bra and white clothes get transparent girls spent the whole time even laying in the sun with life vest on.

What's the problem???

OP has displayed more ignorance in one brief post than that girl will ever display bare skin.

T

If you want a 'sad' picture, just think about the past actions of "Christian" missionaries that demanded their 'tropical converts' dress in clothes meant for Victorian era Scotland! You can see the remnants in many countries - I think of mumus in Hawaii.

In San Diego Windandsea Beach, in La Jolla, California, Brazilian young people are daily arrazed by the police because are wearing very small Brazilian bikinis, responding residents complains about the "views".....even if in Miami or San Francisco you can be topless in a public beach. This is the kind of stupid and close mind people are you talking about?

Edited June 17, 201412 yr by metisdead
Bold font removed.

My G.F. often wears her bikini when we go to a pool or a waterfall her daughter wears full length costume.

It did take a while before I could persuade her to get rid of her full length costume, and we have never had that reaction. I guess the conclusion here is that the 19 yr olds body that the op talked about looks better than my 37 yr old G.F. body

I'd say it was the body........ not the fact she had a two piece on, that caused the fuss.

in Germany, they are showing a movie about a muslim girl who attends school, in the sports and swimming lessons, she wears a "burkini", a specially designed Swimsuit that covers all womanly parts of her body.

The movie tries not to arise the question of religion and tolerance, but that of outcasting - the girl stands apart from the rest of the class.

Same here . .said Thai girl who has been raised and educated to Australian standards, in Thailand she still stands outside of the mainstream.

It's a fact and is being observed as such. You can post and flagelate about the topic - it still remains a fact. Outcast is outcast, according to principles and standards of the places you choose to live.

don't know about a movie but a fact is that a number of Muslim girls are taking part in sports/swimming based on the ruling of a top German Appeals Court. one of the major Muslim Associations in Germany even welcomed the ruling because some schools rejected "burqinis".

For all excitement seekers: girls in bikinis have been pictured on urns dating as far back as 1400 BC, that's 3400 years ago...

It was Western (church) cultures that condemned bikinis!

Only 70 years ago it was re-invented and faced a major opposition, quote: "The modern bikini was introduced by French engineer Louis Réard and separately by fashion designer Jacques Heim in Paris in 1946. Many western countries declared it illegal and the Vatican declared it sinful." /quote

Only from the 60's it was getting common in Western countries, so we expect the whole world to follow Western culture, right?

And that is exactly wrong with most people, they force people who do, wear, behave differently into a "label". They label everything and everyone. Apart from the unacceptable expectation that other cultures would/should follow Western cultures (that differ already amongst them), there are sometimes very logical reasons for certain behaviour. As for Thailand, ladies like to have light skin, result of successive US marketing telling them that dark skin is not good (although in the West the same marketing guys tell the women that tanned skin is great and looking healthy), all celebs try to look as sick pale as possible, so surely women here in Isan (the lovely dark-skinned ones) have a problem with their tan skin and prefer to stay out of the sun, if possible use a parasol and for sure don't go swimming in a suit that would "burn" their belly and back. Instead they prefer to wear one piece swimsuits, as can be hired at swimming pools. For other, unofficial, swimming they swim with their clothes on.

Another aspect is being prude and shy. Many Thai women are too shy to show more parts of their body than the usual t-shirts and shorts do. On top it makes a difference, like a friend of mine, living on Samui, told me: Thai girls on Samui in bikini are bar girls or farang-married, "normal" Thai girls do not wear a bikini where so many people can see them....

Here a nice photo of Bikini girls, pictured on tiles of an ancient Roman villa, about 1600 years ago...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c1/Villa_romana_bikini_girls.JPG/120px-Villa_romana_bikini_girls.JPG

Never ceases to amaze me that foreigners in different cultures like Thailand , consider them repressed. It's their culture & I might add I far prefer the modesty of Asian people to the despot western cultures. Enjoy it for what it is, do not criticize , the western way isn't necessarily the only way.

quote : 'for example India- where hetero guys often walk around hand in hand - because they don't get any lady action.'

Man... what a brilliant illustration of how totally you misunderstand Indian ways and other Asian cultures alike.

The seemingly unlimited hubris which characterizes the attitude of most Westerners in the non-western world will never cease to shock me. One might hope that Western expats who've actually lived in Asia for a while gradually drop the patronizing tone and sense of superiority but no, most of them stay on and rant ceaselessly against their 'host' culture. Many rush into Thai Visa Forum and happily turn into Thai Bashing Forum, but instead of exposing the flaws of Thai/Asian ways, their posts mainly underline the grotesque arrogance and narrow-mindedness of the ranter.

When China becomes the leading power of Asia (first) and then the World, a lot of people are going to wake up with a severe hangover around here.

Edited June 17, 201412 yr by Yann55

I can't believe this is true. I've been at Cha'am beach with 99% Thais and loads of the 20 and 30 something women were wearing bikinis.

Much fuss about nada!

and do you have a picture , or it never happened

It appears to me that Thai culture does not encourage public display of affection.

My partner , in her early 40's, can be very loving and passionate in the home, but will not allow me to even hold her hand in public. She tells me that decent Thais do not do these things in public, especially kissing and cuddling, and that only bar girl with farang does this in public. Not so long ago i was walking in a Thai town behind a young Italian couple who just stopped and started kissing on the pavement. It was obvious that the surrounding Thais were quite offended by this display in the street.

Repressed? Thailand is a different culture than yours. It's really that simple.

another tv member who thinks that his culture (west) is superior and if the thais dont agree or bow down to it, then they are considered third world

I don’t think most westerners think their culture is superior they merely prefer their culture. It is interesting to observe other cultures but personally I like and feel most comfortable with my own cultural norms.

Thai culture is fascinating but I would never be happy to be bound by it and I’m sure Thai people would be not be as comfortable with mine.

As a westerner that lived many years in Asia having recently moved back to the west I must say I really like being in my own culture and with my native people again, its much less of a struggle.

farang no understand...

in Germany, they are showing a movie about a muslim girl who attends school, in the sports and swimming lessons, she wears a "burkini", a specially designed Swimsuit that covers all womanly parts of her body.

The movie tries not to arise the question of religion and tolerance, but that of outcasting - the girl stands apart from the rest of the class.

Same here . .said Thai girl who has been raised and educated to Australian standards, in Thailand she still stands outside of the mainstream.

It's a fact and is being observed as such. You can post and flagelate about the topic - it still remains a fact. Outcast is outcast, according to principles and standards of the places you choose to live.

I agree with you....and it is also the chance for understanding different cultures.

another tv member who thinks that his culture (west) is superior and if the thais dont agree or bow down to it, then they are considered third world

I don’t think most westerners think their culture is superior they merely prefer their culture. It is interesting to observe other cultures but personally I like and feel most comfortable with my own cultural norms.

Thai culture is fascinating but I would never be happy to be bound by it and I’m sure Thai people would be not be as comfortable with mine.

As a westerner that lived many years in Asia having recently moved back to the west I must say I really like being in my own culture and with my native people again, its much less of a struggle.

I really don't give a sh**. Why, if you moved back to your culture would you think that someone who lives in Thailand or posts on a Thai forum would want to know you are happier back in your home?

I ask because there are hundreds of posts daily saying how handsome Farang men are and how much smarter and better is their culture. I get the fact that you are full of yourself but why post here and tell me?

I've lived in Laos for many years and have been to the LOS dozens of times. I've seen plenty of Thai girls in bikinis. The Lao are a little more restrained and there are no beaches, however, Lao girls go to public swimming pools in bikinis regularly.

You want to see uptight beach people, come to Korea where I work. Koreans hang on the beach all day fully clothed. Long pants, long-sleeved shirts, HUGE hats with sun visors. many ladies where gloves. They swim in these get-ups, then play in the sand. I have very rarely seen a Korea girl in a bathing suit of any type or a Korean guy in just swimming shorts.

It's also perfectly normal for grown adults to wade around in water maybe waist deep with a life jacket on. They usually do not take these off when they're rolling around in the sand.

There seems to be a sizable population of conservatives in Thailand. Luckily, I've been able to avoid them.

The comments by "advancebooking" are the reason I put my notes on this forum about Cultural Imperialism and then

Ethnocentric issues. My isolated little world never encountered such clod-of-dirt ignorant attitudes asserted as if facts.

For a few minutes from time to time, I have difficult having hope for mankind. Yes, advancebooking, your wrong attitudes are really depressing and you are far from the only one.

I chuckle at the OP's crass assumption that Indian guys hold hands because they don't get any lady action. It is common in African cultures for men to hold hands. I have even seen policemen in Egypt holding hands. When you 'ASSUME", you make an 'ASS' of "U" and "ME".

What a bunch of pompous twits... The OP poses a question about Thai culture and he is immediately reviled for his lack of knowledge by the TV experts... Instead of insulting the OP, perhaps you could share your wisdom on the topic, but of course there is no fun in that and you get to feel superior... The funny part is that a farang, any farang thinks they truly understand a culture in which they were not raised...

I think the responses have more to do with the attitude and ignorance the OP expressed in the body of his post, than the question itself.

When you write stuff like:

Ive only ever seen old 'pay for play' girls on jomtien beach in a bikini- you know the ones I'm talking about... the old girls are past their used by date. The ladies that have spent many years with farang.

and:

I've seen it before in other cultures, for example India- where hetro guys often walk around hand in hand - because they don't get any lady action.

you'd better expect the kind of responses shown in this thread.

The OPs post shows a distinct lack of "cultural" awareness, and an arrogance that comes from thinking that his "culture" (and morality) is superior to all others.

Point in fact - most Thais I know, like most of the Filipinos/Indians/Nepalese I know, cover up their skin when they are outside to try and prevent tanning and getting darker. As you know, many people associate darker skin with lower social class (and not just in Thailand).

While it has become a cultural thing in recent generations for Thai women to dress more modestly, less than 100 years ago it was still quite common for Thai women to run around topless (except in the major cities where "Western" culture and (religious) influence were taking over, at least as far as modesty was concerned).

In fact, it was just over 70 years ago (1941) that Phibun's government issued a mandate that Thai people should not appear in public "without being appropriately dressed" (that probably had more to do with Japanese influence at the time than Western, but still, it was "outside" influence none the less).

As for men in India holding hands. Absolutely PATHETIC statement from the OP. I too have been to India. I have also worked with Indians and Nepalese (along with many other nationalities) over the past 11+ years. Males holding hands has NOTHING to do with "not getting any lady action". I've seen male Afghanis, Pakistanis, Indians and Nepalese holding hands as casually and innocently as you'd hold the hand of a child. To them it's just a gesture that has no sexual connotations (except in the minds of certain "westerners").

In the "west" children (boys and girls) often hold hands while growing up, at least until they are old enough to understand the religious indoctrination they've been subjected to since birth, and learn that touching another male is shameful (unless of course it is Father John, in his private office, after choir practice......)

In the "West" I've seen men (gasp) shake hands and hug other males !! That must mean they aren't getting any "lady action" ! Most school/sport/military shower rooms I've seen in the "West" have a bunch of nude guys showering at the same time !! That must be because they are all gay !

Funny how groups of men showering naked together is fine in a "christian" country, but men holding hands in a "non-christian" country must mean they are all gay !

(Another funny thing. We Canadians laugh about it all the time. For us to go into a shower room that has someone else in it already is no big deal. Other (Western) males may be shaving, brushing their teeth, getting in/out of the shower (naked) - so what ? You carry on and do your thing. But if an Indian/Nepalese/Filipino/Nigerian guy enters the room and sees "white" guys in there - he'll leave and go to a different shower room. If the other room has people in it as well, you'll often see them step, fully clothed, into the first available stall. A little later you may see them step back out of the stall, still fully dressed. It seems, in their cultures, it is not "normal" or "appropriate" for men to be standing around or showering in the presence of other naked men".)

Perhaps some people should learn to open their minds at least as much as their eyes.

<< yes, she had a fantastic body- just joking>>

"True you see mi inna pants and ting

See mi in a 'alter back
Sey mi gi' you heart attack
Gimme likkle bass, make me wine up me waist"

"True you see mi inna pants and ting

See mi in a 'alter back

Sey mi gi' you heart attack

Gimme likkle bass, make me wine up me waist"

Are you from Wales?

"True you see mi inna pants and ting

See mi in a 'alter back

Sey mi gi' you heart attack

Gimme likkle bass, make me wine up me waist"

Are you from Wales?

No. Why Wales?

I don't believe a word.

WUS = the OP would have been behind the nearest tree furiously ripping the head off it at the sight of some female flesh; certainly not talking to people in a language he has no knowledge of...

No knowledge of English? By the way, you assume a lot!