Dear Hillary
We live in Jomtien and often go to the beach there as it seems to be very popular with the Thais, as we see them swimming there a lot. Why do the Thai people wear clothes when they go into the sea? Sometimes it looks like shipwreck survivors from the Titanic. Some Thais wear bikinis, but they are in the minority. I even see them going in wearing jeans! Why?
Ian
Dear Ian,
There a two reasons, to this hilarious puzzle. #1. No Thai ever wants to become sunburned or darker in the skin tone as they all equate light skin with beauty. They all believe the most beautiful Thai girls come from Chiang Mai as they are so light skinned! Most farangs want to become tanned and most Asians want to become white. Nobody is ever satisfied! #2. The second reason is for modesty! No proper decent Thai woman will ever display their bodies in public. It is against (current) Thai societal values. Believe me, the bar-girls and boys have to make a lot of merit to atone for their displays.
