Guest Posted January 10, 2003 Report Share Posted January 10, 2003 "I try to convince my tyrack that her skin color is very beautiful and that she don't need anything to get her skin more white. I also tell her that farang are spending a lot of money to come to Thailand or other tropical country to get a tan and that the darker skin in farangland is view has a sign of richeness" I need to explain my western friends the almost exact opposite.I encourage my girlfriends to avoid the sun as much as possible and while I really don't spend much time watching thai TV the whiter skins I see the better I feel (and the reverse is probably true) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasmine Posted January 10, 2003 Report Share Posted January 10, 2003 Hi, [color:"red"] I try to convince my tyrack that her skin color is very beautiful and that she don't need anything to get her skin more white. I also tell her that farang are spending a lot of money to come to Thailand or other tropical country to get a tan and that the darker skin in farangland is view has a sign of richeness. It's a very difficult task because she [/color] The lighter skin has always claimed to be more beautiful in Thailand. Every time I visit Thailand, the first few comments I receive are normally about how white my skin was (right being in Winter in the East Coast of USA, what else could have happened!). Then after a week which I like to spend in a little sun, the comments will be "Why you let the sun ruin your skin?" There are stupid reasons why dark skin is not desired, such as that they look too common, too Thai, and it is simply preconceived idea that the lighter skin is in better economic situations and so on, and you guys know that money talks in Thailand. :: My sister-in-law is very dark and both of my nephew and niece are tan and have simply beautiful skin tone. My niece told me that some school kids teased her that she look too common, whatever that means? Cheers1 :: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasmine Posted January 10, 2003 Report Share Posted January 10, 2003 Hi, [color:"red"]This obsession with selling every personal care product with "whitening" is absurd for a country based in Southeast Asia. Don't people realize that the crap doesn't work? [/color] A lot of things sold in Thailand don't work but people believe in them. It will take much more education and training to bring the Thais to some senses on a few things. It is very frustrating, really. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gummigut Posted January 10, 2003 Report Share Posted January 10, 2003 Oh my gawd. The stuff that is advertised and sold. That damn whitening cream!!!! AArrgghhhh Okay, on the topic of skin color and thinking. Hah!!!! Okay, so I have a bunch of university students. I like to use advertisements as a basis for discussion and have the folks deconstruct the pictures. Well, one of the thoughts that came out was beauty. So I asked, why Thais like white skin. Course no one could answer. So I asked, what does everyone like to be? So I got a whole assortment of answers, but Rich is pretty consistent. Okay, so what do you do if you are rich in Thailand? You sit out of the sun and you get white skin. Hence the belief white is beautiful. I asked if they thought farangs are crazy coming here to the beaches and sun bathing. Course they said yes, they don't understand it. So I asked where do most of the people in an industrialized nation work? Course, it's indoors. So what happens to their skin? Where do they want to go on vacation? Well, it's someplace warm and on the beach so they can get a tan and showoff that they have been lounging around. Pure economics and sociology. Least by me as I see most things in terms of economics. <<burp>> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasmine Posted January 10, 2003 Report Share Posted January 10, 2003 Hi, [color:"red"] Pure economics and sociology. Least by me as I see most things in terms of economics. [/color] It is all economics like I mentioned in my previous post. The farmers seem to be darker becuase of working in the fields, however, the people in the North have lighter skin and they do work outdoors too. I think the way they compare the "maual labor" with the ones who work in offices make them become a little prejudiced in a way. This is what happens in a country where social classes exists prominently like Thailand. I have felt that each country needs all types of citizens, especially farmers. Thailand must realize that without those farmers, they may have to import rice one day ::, and it will be sad indeed. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steffi Posted January 11, 2003 Report Share Posted January 11, 2003 I recently spent six months in Thailand and the only channels my wife gets on her TV are Thai so I also saw a lot of Thai TV whilst I was in Thailand. I agree with most of your points. This post reminds me though of how artificial TV in the UK is. Especially Pop Music. You talk about believing about Whitening products. Why is it just about every pop artists on TV never sings. I've just watched Girls Aloud on Ant and Decs Saturday Night Takeaway and apparently they are #1. Woo Hoo. Giveme D2B any day of week ;-) I'll never understand why this industry is so successful in the UK. I'll also never understand why so many Thais believe in the whole whitening thing. I could go on but it wouldn't accomplish anything. Suffice it to say that the superstars in Thailand are all from wealthy families who have the connections to give their offspring an easy go at life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 20, 2003 Report Share Posted January 20, 2003 >This obsession with selling every personal care product with "whitening" is absurd for a country based in Southeast Asia. >Don't people realize that the crap doesn't work? I don't know about "every" product, but some of them do work. The only problem is that the health risks of the really effective products are unreasonable: some include mercury compounds (poison!) and others have serious amounts of some cortisone derivative. I have a small amount of practical experience with this after having roomed with an African girl who was obsessed by the same whiteness fetish as the Thais. The difference between past photos and her then current state, as well the contrast between most of her body and her face where cream was most vigorously applied was quite striking. I looked up the ingredients from the Web and was appalled by the health warnings, including health bans in Europe. It of course was an excercise in futility to try and convince her that dark skin was better (as far as I was concerned). Wagner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mentors Posted January 20, 2003 Report Share Posted January 20, 2003 Great post! Especially the sentence about the hairstyle of Thai Ladies over 40! You are so right! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nervous_Dog Posted January 21, 2003 Report Share Posted January 21, 2003 Yaeh - whu would any one want to be white, much smarter to have adds like we do in Australia where you buy products to make you brown, page after page in Aussie womens magazines, now thats sensible! (JB being ironic) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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