[Dabdklwu]

Hi. Interesting question. When I first came here it seemed only lady boys and farang would wear bikinis. Most Thais are quite modest and wear shorts and t-shirt to the beach or waterfall. But this seems to be changing. It now seems that along with Farangs and lady boys, the rich Thais also now wear bikinis.

I think you should take your bikini or one peice bathing suit and wear it under your clothes and just see what everyone else is doing. If you are in a popular tourist area, with many other farangs wearing bikinis, I don't think you'll offend anyone by wearing a bikini, but if you visit a waterfall or more local type beach maybe shorts and shirt is more polite.

Unfortunately the media here, like the media in most western countries, treat women as sex objects and unfortunately some thai women are giving in to that trend. I personally don't feel it is good nor should be encouraged, but maybe I am just too old and conservative.

[UnmariKam]

Knee-length board shorts and t-shirts or tank tops have become popular beachwear down here for surfer/ skater chicks and I'm pretty sure the same holds in the States. So, if younger women dress in this gear to go to the beach in Thailand, they will look supharp to the Thais and rad to the Aussies and Americans.

[Forexampleee]

What should the well dressed beach bum wear there?
Are long shorts (or long bathing suit) and T-shirt modest enough?
I understand this island has fewer farang than Thais on holiday? Still true?

[chuecaloversvvp]

Ko Chang has become quite touristy over the last 3 or 4 years, so you don't need to cover up. shorts are better, however, than short swimming trunks, t-shirts might be useful if you don't want to get baked.

[Uhmavano]

Girls mostly wear & buy Bikinis. Men bathing suits may include shorts, trunks, board shorts.

[karaburatoreror]

Girls mostly wear & buy Bikinis. Men bathing suits may include shorts, trunks, board shorts.

Funny how you say you are in New York but your ip address says New Delhi. Obviously a spammer who found out that newbies cannot post links but went ahead anyway.

[wp6Eg2Fm]

i was in ko samui and i saw an under-fit man in his 50's in a banana hammock. startling for all.

[rammossyAcron]

Now adays farangs are accepted in Thailand, most Thai people understand that Farangs dress little clothes when a chance arrives especially in the hot country like Thailand. I don't think wearing two pieces on a beach or on a street near the beach is disgusting for both Thais and tourists but if they wear them in a supermarket or at school that's another story but it is nice to see lots of farangs who live in Thailand adapt themselves to the culture.

Talking about being modest, I used to bring my clothes from overseas to wear when I visited home but was told to change them every single time I put them on. There weren't even strapless or singlets, they were T-shirts but with stretched material so when I wore them, the funny shape of my body was exposed. Now I don't bring them I just wear my dinosaur era baggy T-shirts hehehehe !

[tevyrefficy]

Well if you have a funny shape body with appendages growing from places that they shouldn't then it is better not to wear revealing clothing, What ever that may be.

[rammossyAcron]

The funny shape I have is the shape that men don't have but surely they wouldn't turn away

[tevyrefficy]

Yea, but you never said, even in your profile that you were a girl.. so there

[rammossyAcron]

Sorry kha, I am very new and hadn't punched any details on it...will soon

[Breilopmil]

Do you mean they took him by ambulance? Ambulate means 'to walk from place to place'.

David

I stand corrected, yes he was taken by pick-up to hospital, severely ripped tendons.

Nudes beaches are not allowed

Try the island back beaches

[tevyrefficy]

I don't think so,
We were at Pattaya awhile back, were going to spend a week and made it 2 days before coming back home, we saw some farang women in skimpy bikini swim suits fit for a Thai size woman and they were whale size,,very disgusting really, but of coarse they were on a sidewalk close to the beach and not on the beach so made it worse.
There is all this talk of Customs and traditions,,lets keep it along these lines then, if folks want to go half naked or topless, let them go to Tahiti or Hawaii, if not then let them come here without insulting the local people..

[Aafimoq]

Bikini should be fine...but is there any naked beach in Thailand?

As far as I am aware there are n nudist resorts or nudist beaches in Thailand as nudity is against the law.

[karaburatoreror]

Thailand seems to be a land of contradictions. Many Westerners have an impression that Bangkok is the "sex capital of the world". The shows at Patpong are infamous. However, all of this misleads them into thinking that all of Thailand is like this. It isn't. Most Thais are very respectable people and dress modestly. The topless bargirls are a far cry from what happens on the beaches of Thailand. If you have ever been to a Thai beach resort (I am not talking about Phuket or Pattaya) then you will know that 90% of the people swim in the sea with all their clothes on. You will rarely see a woman in a swimming costume. And hardly ever will they wear a bikini. This is not just because of the sun. They are just too decent to expose too much skin.

Now, today I was at Bangsaen which is a typical Thai beach resort. Most people there are Thai and there are very few foreigners. If you have been there before then you would know that most people swim in their clothes. And they walk around at the top of the beach in their clothes. However, today we saw a foreign couple in their late 50's who were walking around in their swimsuits. Not exactly a crime but you should have seen the shocked looks they were getting from the Thai people. He was wearing a baggy speedo and she a two piece bikini. I could hear the people near me saying how disgusting this was. Thai people are just too polite to say anything to them.

The question is, were they doing anything wrong? It was a beach and they were wearing swimming costumes. She wasn't topless. The Thai government are doing their best to promote Thailand as a tourist destination and the beaches are often at the top of their list of places to visit. Should the government indoctrinate all tourists with their values as and when they enter the country? Or should they let values slip in favour of the tourist dollar?

[StitlyDute]

I went to Phuket(Patong Beach) the year there was the big tidal wave, and saw one or two gay couples that caught everybody's eyes.. The slim ones(they looked Thai/perhaps tanned taiwanese) wore..amale g-string with big golden chain necklace. There were about five or six Thai girls wearing bikinis on the beach(including me). Most of them came with their farang husbands. I made friend with one girl who married a german guy. She was very nice and friendly. So, we spent for a long long time in the water chatting (until her hubby came and took her away from me lol).

I learned one important thing from the trip about Thai men on the beach. One Thai guy kept asking me if i was japanese. (I didn't know he was talking to me because i didn't look japanese--tanned with natural curly hair) There were not many Thai girls wearing bikinis so they assumed we were filipinas, malaysian, or vietnamese. Thai guys tried to be nice and friendly to me until i started speaking Thai to them. One guy approached me and even, by force, tried to pull me to his boat saying he'd take me around the island. I looked around thinking about asking for help. Guessed he smelled that so he freed me. One guy started a conversation with me thinking i was a foreigner while i was in the water (I couldn't swim so i just held onto a big rope used to limit the swimming area). The way he talked changed when i started speaking Thai to him. He called his friends and by then i was surrounded by a few Thai men. I knew what was going to happen so i took as deepest breath as i could and plunged under the water starting diving (i knew how to dive even though i couldn't swim lol) to the beach as fast as i could. I was hoping my feet would feel the sand on the beach when i had no oxygen left. I failed and thought i was drawning. Then in a few seconds, my toe squeezed on the sand...

I learned so much from the trip, even from other Thai women too as said in the äÁèÁÕÍÐäÃÁÒ¡ á¤èÍÂÒ¡ÃкÒ thread.

I still think about going there. Thailand's beaches are so irresistable even to Thais. If i happen to go there again, i'll go with bikini top or that under spaghetti tops and boyshorts or shorts. No more bikinis.

[VEGLAS - SPB]

Bikini should be fine...but is there any naked beach in Thailand?

[JacomoR]

Phuket, Pattaya, and other foreign tourist destinations are the exception. Bangsaen is mostly for Thais and one should respect the ways of the natives. Personally, I wear longer swimming trunks (surfer style) and a t-shirt when I go to the beach in Thailand. My wife and stepkids are Thai and all swim in their regular clothes. It is important to be understanding of when you are in a tourist enclave and when you are in the local zone. They are quite different. In Saudi Arabia, a woman in an expatriate enclave might wear a bikini at the swimming pool within the expat compound, but who would dare do so in a public place frequented by Saudis. At least the Thais are polite and won't stone you to death for your cultural faux pas.

[tevyrefficy]

What part of Thailand are you hanging around in????