Gadfly Posted July 20, 2008 Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 About two weeks ago on a weekend night I caught a glimpse of the Thai hi-so, or probably more accurately, upper middle class Thai dating scene, and at least to these eyes itâ??s a bit odd and uncomfortable. On Soi Thonglor (Sukhumvit Soi 55) there is a shopping complex called J-Avenue, and within J-Avenue there is a high-endish looking homemade ice cream venue, which I believe is an off-shoot of i-berryâ??s. The girls were in the early 20s, cutely and conservatively dressed up (not even a pair of jeans in sight) with pale white complexions. You would not mistake these girls for their Issan cousins. Indeed, I suspect they would take serious offense to the proximity of the words â??cousinsâ?? and â??Issanâ?? in the prior sentence. At every table there was a laptop, typically high end, like Appleâ??s air or an iPod. But these more like fashion accessories than something their ownerâ??s actually used. Everything seemed so contrived and artificial. And at each table, a male, also in conservative dress, but here is where it gets really weird: they were also pale white. And like their dates, they were also pale white mainly because they were wearing make-up. Yes, Thai middle class mid-20 guys wearing white make-up. Everyone was speaking English, but affected and appalling bad English. It was like something out of a David Lynch movie. I had just finished a glass of wine (just one), had a serious case of the munchies, which is why I ventured in here in the first place, and, well, was in a state of mind where I was paying particular attention to detail. Even after living here well over a decade, this was one of the stranger scenes I have ever seen in Thailand. It was graphic, pictures and charts, depiction of the gap between upper and upper middle class Thailand and the rest (95%) of Thailand, and gave flesh to the current political impasse that grips Thailand. I am not Joe six-pack, and would never even try to pretend to be one, but when I walked thirty feet out of that place and saw the motorcycle taxis and street vendors, and then reflect back on the surrealistic scene I encountered in that ice cream parlor - where one serving probably excelled the earnings of the Thais not even thirty feet away â?? it hit me hard why it is so hard for the Bangkok elite to accept a Thailand where the unwashed of Issan and the North have an equal vote with Mercedes and BMW driving make-up wearing Bangkok Chinese-Thais. But I didnâ??t start this post trying to make a point about Thai society. Instead, I am still gobsmocked at the sight of mid 20s Thai couples in garish white make up, all coiffed up on a weekend night. Truly a bizarre sight. This is movie material. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faustian Posted July 20, 2008 Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 Sounds horrible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dullnight Posted July 20, 2008 Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 Except for the male make up and the thai couple speaking english to each other it sounds both familiar and liveable( part time at least, later on the guys often move to wilder events). Thailand ugliest and poorest should be thankful westerners came along with their bizarre egalitarian attitude (or lack of determination in competitive dating). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WorldFun Posted July 20, 2008 Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 I love iberry - always an experience to go for a scoop!!! However week nights or not Thonglor or not it's rare to catch hiso's with the lower echelon's abl to afford more & more 'luxury'! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiger Moth Posted July 20, 2008 Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 I have had experience with Thai Hi-So and I found it to be repulsive. I have lived in Thailand for 4 years and each time I have been exposed to Thai Hi-So it has reminded me of the shallow, money hungry, status seeking people I sought to escape when I left the US. Having worked at a company that shared an atrium with Trump Tower on 57th St and Park Ave in NY, I know what shallow, status seeking people are like. In my first year in Thailand I went on a one week vacation with the Govenor of one of the provinces and his family. The Gov was in his 60's and was an early riser as I am. He was a nice down to earth guy and we had breakfast alone together a number of times. Very enjoyable. But, his children, educated in the US, seemed more like US yuppies than Thai people. Having lived in Bangkok for 2 years and Pattaya for 1, I now live in Khon Kaen. Not a bad place. Very middle class. However, an Ice Cream/Coffee House just opened in a location that I thought was so out of the way that it was doomed to failure. But, I went there one time and it was just as you described, full of well-dressed pretentious Thais with their laptops and other high technology equipment. REPULSIVE! Sort of an aside, I was in the US last week for my son's wedding. One of my nephews who was there teaches English in Japan and he remarked that one of his private students (a married male in his 30's with a couple of children) wears makeup because he thinks it makes him look better. Amazing how Asians want to be white. Still, I can't complain because I am very fair skinned and am considered attractive because of this. Of course, in the US, ironically, a nice tan is desired. My girlfriend lives in a village reached via a dirt road. Real Thai people, hard working, down to earth - a community of people working together enjoying life, with no pretentions. This is the Thailand for which I left the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shygye Posted July 20, 2008 Report Share Posted July 20, 2008 I guess you missed the Gothic look in the West. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tartempion Posted July 21, 2008 Report Share Posted July 21, 2008 My girlfriend lives in a village reached via a dirt road. Real Thai people, hard working, down to earth - a community of people working together enjoying life, with no pretentions. This is the Thailand for which I left the US. Thank you TM for this excellent comment. For the same reasons as you cite I live far away from places like Bangkok and Pattaya. I do hit these places and the Western world a few times a year to pinch my arm and get me out of my dream or is it into a nightmare Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CTO Posted July 21, 2008 Report Share Posted July 21, 2008 How many in the west buy fake sun tan lotion? Do we get our nickers in a knot about that? Can't stand any class of people that refuse to accommodate and welcome other classes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunsanuk Posted July 21, 2008 Report Share Posted July 21, 2008 Hi, "Yes, Thai middle class mid-20 guys wearing white make-up." Yep. Haven't you seen those commercials advertising whitening cream for men? Using whitening cream ranks up there with lots of other manly things, working on a construction site (as a manager of course!), driving an ATV through a stream, driving a big pick up truck, etc. Personally I find men using whitening cream very gay. My guess is that the main market for this shit is saturated, which is why they are now expanding to the male market. Oh, and CTO, I think men using tanning cream is gay as well Sanuk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USVirgin Posted July 21, 2008 Report Share Posted July 21, 2008 Whitening cream burns my skin. A girl left a bottle of it in the bathroom and I thought it was sun block. So it wasn't a gay act on my part, because I didn't know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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