Thailand forum

For temples, knee length or longer and a shirt...

Otherwise, wear whatever you want. No one here cares and Thai women are hardly modest in their dress. Not the young ones anyway.

I second on the dresses

Guava
Maybe down south, but that is definitely NOT TRUE in Issan. I live in a non-tourist area and off the lots of young women wear clothing that exposes cleavage and bare shoulders. There is virtually no difference in dress codes here in Issan with western Europe or the US except concerning swimwear.

wouldnt worry about it too much . i went away with 2 girls who wore dresses all the time and there wasnt even a bad look from anyone.

In villages men prance around all the time without any shirts on... but I don't see it much in the cities either. My general rule is dress cool so that my wife likes the way I look. I think that's a good rule to follow. Of course, my wife is a "local".

You'll also see caucasian women topless on the beach and occasionally around swimming pools. This is highly disrespectful to the Thais.

Dresses are fine anywhere.

"You'll also see caucasian women topless on the beach and occasionally around swimming pools. This is highly disrespectful to the Thais."

Yeah, the Thai men hate it when women do that! I hear them complaining about it all the time. They find it so disrespectful!

Johnny, unless they are Muslim or gay, the rest of us like checking out a decent rack if the woman in question wants to display it. This is a pretty international thing. But just to be sure, I asked a friend of mine (a Thai guy) if that would be offensive here. His response "Not to me". It might get you some unwanted police attention in certain parts, but I think you'd be hard pressed to find a red blooded Thai guy who was offended. My wife says Thai guys love it when western women prance around in skimpy outfits. They think it's great!

Oh, they also think it's great when Thai women do it... But try finding a Thai woman to sunbathe topless around here - mission impossible.

I'm so glad you added that bit MM. Says it all really.

You got to love the woman going into the Wat in a bikini. I mean seriously, WTF? What was she thinking? Well, obviously she wasn't thinking; maybe thinking isn't her strong suit.

Johnnie
As for topless sunbathing, except for the deep south I doubt you'll find many people here who really care if you are in Phuket or Pattaya or the like. My sister in law says it's legal (or tolerated) though. But outside of those areas you might get unwanted attention from the police.
But I wouldn't put it in the category of wearing your shoes into a temple or pointing at something with your foot. Those things would be very disrespectful. Out of curiousity I asked several people on my street and they all told me at tourist places for the most part Thais consider it OK. My sister in law, who was working at a hotel in Phuket until recently, told me she occassionally saw Thai women doing it when they were in the company of Farang's, but otherwise not.

My girlfriend got hissed at by the local women for wearing a BACKLESS dress in Cambodia.Sometimes I despair of this place it can have attitudes to women which are positively medieval.Then what would you expect of women whose dress sense is to wear orange pyjama tops with teddy bears on them and red and black striped pants.This is typical here.If anybody out there is in the fashion industry please come and save Cambodia.

Well, it's currently 36 degrees here in Brisbane today..........this evening I might just take my top off and sit on my front steps. I'm all out of betel nut, though.

Hello, all!

I'm arriving in Bangkok in June, and will spend about a week making my way up to Chiang Mai, where I plan to spend around 3 weeks. Extensive internet searches have led me to seemingly great reviews at the Junior Guest House, but I'm hoping someone here may have some personal experience with the place that they would be willing to share...I'm a bit wary of internet reviews by now. My hope is to book somewhere for the first week and then move on or extend my stay as necessary.

Thanks so much for any replies!