Disney Princesses in Thailand

“Disney Princesses’re gonna die.” After almost five hours of talking (and drinking) with one of my “animation freak” friends, we came to the conclusion that Disney’s princess stories, like Cinderella, Snow White, or the newest one: Tiana from The Princess and the Frog, will soon become obsolete and die in my country, Thailand. Basically, the whimsical stories of Disney princesses are untouchable in most Thais' eyes because most Thai people are middle class or lower. Many girls from a lower class background do not dare to even dream about becoming princesses while, in reality, they have to help their parents work or raise their younger sisters or brothers at home; they do not even have a chance to go to school. Also, Disney’s movies and stuff are like American representatives, so this makes Thai’s lower class feel like the goals in the stories are very unreachable for them. They would feel like they are acting like the rich who can have a chance to be “close” to the people of a rich, fancy country, like Americans. Although ten years ago, these two-dimension cartoons were popular among Thai girls in the upper middle class, they become too whimsical and unreasonable in the modern world; today’s girls are closer to everyday-life stories, such as Toy Story, or they are more interested in futuristic stories, such as Wall-e. Also, after the Shrek era, which changed the face of the classical princess story, most Thai girls expect every princess story to have a sense of humor and irony like Shrek, and the princess’ character has to have some modernized traits; she has to be quite adventurous and not always ask for any help from others, unlike most Disney princesses. 

Apart from the modernized stories from Pixar and DreamWorks--like Monster Inc., Up, or Madagascar--there are many competitors whose films are much closer to Asian culture, like many animations from the Japanese company, Studio Ghibli: Ponyo and Spirited Away (For instance, in almost all of Ghibli’s films, the main female and male characters’ expression of love is just touching or holding hands while there has to be a kissing scene in almost every American animation.), and Thai TV cartoons are improving. Even though Thai cartoons’ quality might not be comparable to those of Disney’s films or Ghibli’s, the fact that they use the Thai language and express Thai culture cannot be overlooked. However, if you ask me what kind of “animation nerd” I am, my answer is “You have to see my room. There is more of the princesses’ space than mine.”

Iphone Phenomenon

Tons of Thais waiting for buying Iphone 3G at DTAC 3G Expo '11

Thailand has many absurd things, not excluding people. The best example is, I think, the “the Iphone 3G Phenomenon.” Basically, the iPhone 3G is different from the iPhone 3 merely because of a 3G network that allows people to be able to use the Internet anywhere. However, even before there was a 3G network in Thailand, the first day the iPhone 3G went on sale, all of them were completely sold out. Many Bangkokians just threw their iPhone 3 away and bought their new iPhone 3G without 3G network to use. Similarly, two years after that, as Thailand was still developing a reliable 3G system, when the iPhone 4 came out, it sold out immediately. The real reason why Thai people had this absurd behavior has just been clarified to me recently after talking with many of my Thai friends who are, of course, iPhone 4 lovers. Their true reason of using the iPhone is just because they love to be fashion-forward. The iPhone have become a fashionable gadget for Thais that represent how “hip” they are. Regardless of the high price (25,000 Thai Bath) or the unpractical function, Bangkokians feel very proud when they are holding this “updated” little useless gadget in their hands among their friends and co-workers. So, if I want to go back and work in a Thai company this year, I may have to buy the upcoming iPhone5 very soon, for I do not want to be an absurd person in their eyes.

Bidet

This is the way we use a bidet :).

On the first day I came here, I remembered that the first cross-cultural thing that was so different from my country was the American way of using a bidet. Actually, I have just known how to call this gadget recently from one of my American friends after spending almost ten minutes describing and drawing this tool on the paper. It is what Americans use in a sink to wash vegetables, but Thai people use bidet instead of using only tissue after finishing “our private business” in the restroom. Surely, Americans have what they call “bathroom bidet,” but it normally comes with a luxurious toilet, and users have to move from one toilet to another to use a bidet, which is very uncomfortable for us. But it is even more uncomfortable to use just tissue, no water involved at all, which is what the way Americans normally do. I really do not understand why they can use only tissue while this country has cold weather; I think it hurts when I only use tissue only for “that purpose” in the winter. After almost two years of living here, I just had courage enough to ask my close friend what is the real reason why Americans do not usually use what I have found on Google:  “bathroom bidet spray hand held/shower head.” But the answer was quite unreasonable for me: “We use only tissue because it is cleaner; I think the way you use water can, sometimes, cause us to be more dirty because it is wet and might cause the restroom to be wet also.” Well, no offense, I wish I had more courage to answer her: “If you are skillful enough, like us, you can control it..umm….very precisely.” I hope I have a chance to invite her to my country, so I can teach her how to do it. It is easier that way.

Perfect woman wannabe.

Like a “chicken and egg” problem, I don’t know whether Asian men love childish Asian women, so Asian women have to act as childish as possible, or vice versa. Compared to Americans’ taste, most Asian guys, especially Thai guys, like cute little, childlike girls more than sexy, sassy girls. 

Yoon Eun-hye from Korean drama, Princess Hours (Goong Palace), 
the example of perfect girl for Thai guys."

 So, while I love kids’ stuff, like Disney princesses and Hello Kitty, I just cannot act like lovely, little, innocent girl. It is not because I do not want to, but it is because of my shape. Five-foot-six tall Thai girl is considered to be too tall and too big in Thailand; on top of that, I also have wide shoulders and big eyes (To be a “cutie” for Thais, one has to have Korean-looking small eyes). Thus, although I tried so hard to dress like an innocent, sweet girl, such as wearing a stereotypical white laced dress and red headband like Maria in the American classic movie, West Side Story, and acted like “What is going on?” all the time, I will never look cute in Thais’ eyes. While I attempted to be a perfect girl for Thai men for almost all of my life, I just recently found the way out. Based on my Mexican friends’ tastes, I think I do not have to change that much, for they love a white skinned, big-eyed girl who has a skinny shape. That’s it! I think I have found a perfect country for me: my “hermoso” Mexico.