When you turn on a TV in Thailand and the unfathomable gameshows go to a break you will, at some stage before the sensory assault re-commences, be met with one or other of the notorious 'skin whitening' adds.
The scene normally begins with an aggravated, dark-skinned Thai marveling at her glamorous buddy's stunningly pale complexion. My spoken Thai is still fairly rudimentary but going by the gesticulations I gather that the dark girl then asks the light girl what her secret is. How did she get to be so white? Then, with CGI-assisted sparkles added into the scenet, a tub of cream is produced. We then cut to a smiling shot of the whiter girl applying her potion in front of a mirror while a voice over of an authoritative man, (sounds like he could very well be a scientist of some description) explains the complex reasons behind how this wonder potion works its magic.
Next we're onto a brief cartoon-style graphic of some molecules of cream bouncing onto a surface we assume to be a microscopic representation of human skin, which is promptly turned a pristine white by the process. Finally, we're back to our happy cream-sharing duo with the dark girl expressing her eternal gratitude at being freed from the bonds of her horrific affliction, before the the commercial break ends and we're back to the gameshow.
And these adds are not just restricted to TV – the city is plastered with advertisements with pale-skinned models, equipped with bottle of snake skin oil and cheesy smile, perpetuating the idea that light skin is beautiful and by extension that dark skin is undesirable. My personal favourate features a woman in the process of unzipping her old golden-coloured skin to reveal a glistening anemic palour underneath. Thailand's TV and music stars are almost invariably of a shade far whiter than their compatriots and frequently, are half-Thai half-Caucasian. Even guys haven't been spared – an unnerving proportion of the lads' toiletries section of pharmacies and supermarkets is taken up by products promising to strip Thais of their natural skin colour.
I wouldn't mind, but the stuff doesn't even appear to have the affect it promises – its just high-protection suncream so while it might prevent skin from darkening further to some degree, it isn't going to make it any whiter.
The worrying thing is that this 24-hour bombardment of beauty-defining images, perpetuated for the simple purpose of generating money for pharmaceutical companies, is working. A very significant proportion of Thais I've come into contact with are extremely reluctant to walk anywhere in the sunshine for fear of the impact it will have on their skin. I've broached the subject on occasion, pointing out that I for one have not yet come across a more attractive race of people than the Thais, but it's hardly going to have an impact. One girl even told me that she would prefere her skin to be white because in its current state it “looks dirty”.
But there is a flipside to the whole thing – one which is quite clearly demonstrated by a trip to any beach or park in the country. All the Thais sit in the shade because they want their skin to be light while the Caucasians sit in the sun because they want their skin to be dark. And its the same companies perpetuating this idea that people of all shades don't look like they should and then make their living by dangling the prospect of a resolution for a small fee, in countries across the world. Nivea for example sells products off the back of the fact that it teaches teenage Thai girls to view white skin as beautiful while in Ireland, its adverts revert to an image of beauty conversely distant from its target audience's natural colour – and sells tanning oil, tinted moistureser and fake tan by the bucket load.
It's a tragic demonstration of the power held in the hands of advertisers and it's perfectly plausible to suggest that in a few years they could be convincing North Europeans that green skin should be aimed for while simultaneously convincing the Chinese that a purple facial hue is the embodiment of attractiveness. It all stinks to high heaven, but at present, at least the seemingly ludicrous form of beauty Thais are driven to strive for won't give them skin cancer.
