This is Thailand: Where’s Your Jacket?

Winter is around the corner here in Chiang Mai, which means that nights are cooler and I wear a jacket (ahem, or two…) when I ride my motorbike.  But my Thai friends don’t seem to be to interested whether or not I’m cold on my bike going home late.  No, on the hottest and sunniest days, in the middle of the day, my Thai friends ask, “Where’s your jacket?”  “Wel, I’m sweating enough without a jacket, thank you…”

I don’t really say that, but I think it.  Really though, their comment and concern stems from the Thai ideal of being WHITE.  We white people want to be tan — it shows we have time to relax in the sun, and people have come to think that tan is more beautiful than white.  But in Thailand, the opposite is true — white is beautiful, because it means you have a higher-class job that doesn’t require you to work in the sun.  In fact, just like we have tanning oils and lotions, Thais have “whitening” this or that.  I’m hard pressed to find a NON-whitening facewash or body wash.  In the hot sun, Thais wear jackets and layers and long pants and socks and sometimes masks to block the rays from their skin.

No one is happy with the way they are, it seems.  If you feel too white, come to Asia and you will be beautiful! Ha.  Or, take the easier and probably healthier route, and thank God for the way He made you, and acknowledge that “Beauty” as defined by our culture is an imperfect concept.