A Story With a Hot Thai Girl

I came to realize early on in my stay in this gorgeous country of Thailand, that Thai girls had been not only perfectly groomed and gracious, but they were totally “svelte.” I met Gulliver in the land of the Lilliputians.

As a newly-arrived foreign in Thailand, I looked forward to seeing anything from the Reclining Buddha to the gold-encrusted temples. But at first, I told myself, I had some serious purchasing to do. With the temperature at 100 degrees and the unpleasant humidity , I thought the very best place to kill two birds with a single metaphorical stone would be at an air conditioned shopping mall. Shopping has usually had a way of lifting my spirits.

But this wasn’t just for me. No, no. I created it a prerequisite to usually assist the nearby economic system. I was directed by our hotel’s concierge to attempt Robinson’s Department Store in downtown Bangkok. “Quite good clothes for you, MaDam.”

Wow, Robinsons? Proper right here in downtown Bangkok? It took me thirty minutes on a hot tuk-tuk ride in the piercing heat, but I produced it.

I could see somebody walking towards me, but she looked like a teenager. Surely she’s not the salesgirl? She stopped in front of me. “Gootmoanin.”

“Oh.” I felt my face get hot. She looked like a sprite. She wasn’t a tiny girl after all she was at least in her 20s and certainly the salesgirl in this department. “Uh, I, ah, was… Is there a Woman’s department in this store?”

“Yeah.” She smiled and waited expectantly.

“Oh. Nicely, I, ah, could you point me to it?”

“Mai kow jai ka.”

I yanked my Thai-to-English conversation book from my pocket and handed it to her. She pointed to a Thai phrase and handed the book back to me.

“Oh! You do not understand?”

She smiled.

“Okay, confident. Sorry.” I pointed to my nicely-fed body, whilst she watched expectantly. I then yanked on the waistline of my dress and mentioned, “Clothes. For me.”

“Yeah,” she smiled demurely even though seeking at her feet,

She led me to a little alcove, exactly where some properly-fed tourists were grazing about. Sidling up to a rather rotund shopper, I asked if she knew why we had been led to this separate place. “Is it simply because we’re foreigners?”

She puckered up her mouth as if sucking on a sour gumball: “Yeah, honey, it’s cuz we’re foreigner’s all appropriate, larger-than-life foreigners!” She threw back her head and guffawed at her cleverness.

“Huh?”

“The only sizes you will locate out there,” she cocked her head towards the tiny clothes I’d just left, “are size twos to fours, and honey, that aren’t us.” She had herself an additional great laugh.

I snuck a peek close to the room although she chortled, and realized that every single physique standing in this space was years past those proportions.

I knew I wasn’t going to like these svelte, tidy little ladies. They ought to be bulimic — that’s it. Binge, purge, binge, purge – they’re not fooling me. Dream on, lady.

As I toured and shopped the city in the following weeks, I came to recognize that the Thais had been also neat and tidy in other elements of their lives. Every department shop I visited in Bangkok was unbelievably pristine. Shirts and pants, towels, linens and sportswear were not only folded and stacked, but really looked as even though folded by automation. All the garments concealed cardboard inserts to give them shape. No pins showing, no uneven edges, just as if it had been a image on display. The dresses, blouses and shirts had been neatly hung on hangers according to sizes and colors. Remarkable, thinking about the litter I’d witnessed outside on the streets of Bangkok, exactly where each and every tiny nook and crevice harbored some sort of debris.

For us, ahem, larger sizes, I located that anything imported was deplorably high. An imported name-brand in Thailand could be 4 times higher than 1 may possibly pay in the States. Paradoxically, Thai clothes are really low-cost and very stylish — if you are much less than five feet tall and weigh among seventy and ninety pounds.

I created a selection then and there: Just before I left this country I would diet, quickly, quit eating, quit breathing what ever it took to appear as svelte as these Thai girls.

Yet another eye-opener I located was that every single location I shopped, there had been at least 3 salespeople hovering over me, smiling– a Thai greeting. So valuable! I’ll be very cranky when I return to the States and don’t get the same service.

But — back to reality. Soon after living in Thailand for a handful of months, I discovered the secret of the segregated clothing. The salespeople have the perfect resolution for us larger sizes. It’s called “Won Sigh” — meaning Massive. You enter the clothing department, and unless of course you’re constructed like Twiggy, the sweet, smiling, ever-beneficial salesgirls — who all appear pre-pubescent –steer you toward the “Won Sigh” department. This is where you’ll find all the loose-fitting, baggy, gauzy, hippie-seeking outfits, and all claiming to fit 1 SIZE from size 8 all the way up to Mama Cass. This is their way of saving face – yours. They would by no means dream to insinuate you had been huge, fat, obese, or chubby. You just transpire to fall into the category of Won Sigh.