The Svelte Thai Girls And The 'Won Sigh' Foreigner

Aus Salespoint

As a newly-arrived expat in continue Thailand, I looked forward to seeing every little thing from the Reclining Buddha to the gold-encrusted temples. But very first, I told myself, I had some critical shopping to do. With the...

I came to understand early on in my stay in this stunning country of Thailand, that Thai girls had been not only perfectly groomed and gracious, but they had been absolutely "svelte." I mean, how a lot of more attributes do they get? I felt like Gulliver in the land of the Lilliputians.

As a newly-arrived expat in Thailand, I looked forward to seeing every thing from the Reclining Buddha to the gold-encrusted temples. But first, I told myself, I had some critical shopping to do. With the temperature at 100 degrees and the humidity fighting for top billing, I believed the very best location to kill two birds with a single metaphorical stone would be at an air conditioned shopping mall. Shopping has often had a way of lifting my more than-sized spirits. I'd hoped to find a cutesy little sundress that could transform my 38DD bust line and my 30 inch waist into one thing that looked "svelte."

But this wasn't just for me, this shopping business. No, no. I created it a prerequisite to constantly assist the nearby economic climate. I was directed by our hotel's concierge to try Robinson's Department Store in downtown Bangkok. "Really good clothes foh you, MaDam."

Wow, Robinsons? Appropriate here in downtown Bangkok? It took me thirty minutes on a hot tuk-tuk ride in the piercing heat, but I made it, unscathed and prepared to devote, spend, invest. As I sauntered into what I believed was the Women's Department, I stopped short. Oh, no, these need to be the teen's clothes. They're a lot also tiny for an adult. I scanned the racks. Who wears a size two? Exactly where am I, in the Barbi and Ken Department? I couldn't get these designs around my thigh, much less my back-side.

I could see an individual 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 small girl following all she was at least in her 20s and obviously the salesgirl in this department. "Uh, I, ah, was Is there a Woman's department in this retailer?"

"Yeth." She smiled and waited expectantly.

"Oh. Well, 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 don't comprehend?"

She smiled.

"Okay. Certain. Sorry." I pointed to my nicely-fed body, even though she watched expectantly. I then yanked on the waistline of my dress and said, "Clothes. For me."

"Yeth," she smiled demurely whilst searching at her feet, "preze foroow me."

She led me to a tiny alcove, exactly where some effectively-fed tourists had been grazing about. Sidling up to a rather rotund shopper, I asked if she knew why we were led to this separate area. "Is it simply because we're foreigners?"

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

"Huh?"

"The only sizes you'll discover out there," she cocked recommended reading her head towards the tiny clothes I'd just left, "are size twos to fours, and honey, that ain't us." She had herself another excellent laugh.

I snuck a peek about the room although she chortled, and realized that each body standing in this room was years past these proportions.

I knew I wasn't going to like these svelte, tidy small ladies. They should 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 aspects of their lives. Each department retailer I visited in Bangkok was unbelievably pristine. Shirts and pants, towels, linens and sportswear had been not only folded and stacked, but truly 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 were neatly hung on hangers according to sizes and colors. Amazing, thinking about the litter I'd check this out witnessed outside on the streets of Bangkok, exactly where every small nook and crevice harbored some sort of debris.

For us, ahem, bigger sizes, I discovered that anything imported was deplorably high. An imported name-brand in Thailand could be four times greater than one particular may possibly pay in the States. Paradoxically, Thai clothes are quite inexpensive and rather fashionable if you are less than 5 feet tall and weigh in between seventy and ninety pounds.

I made a selection then and there: Ahead of I left this nation I would diet, quick, quit eating, quit breathing whatever it took to look as svelte as these Thai females.

Yet another eye-opener I identified was that every single place I shopped, there were at least three salespeople hovering more than me, smiling, waiing a Thai greeting. So beneficial! I'll be really cranky when I return to the States and don't get the exact same service.

But back to reality. Immediately after living in Thailand for a couple of months, I learned the secret of the segregated clothing. The salespeople have the best resolution for us bigger sizes. It really is known as "Won Sigh" which means Enormous. You enter the clothing department, and unless you are built like Twiggy, the sweet, smiling, ever-useful salesgirls who all appear pre-pubescent steer you toward the "Won Sigh" department. This is exactly where you'll uncover all the loose-fitting, baggy, beachy, gauzy, hippie-searching outfits, and all claiming to fit One SIZE from size 8 all the way up to Mama Cass. This is their way of saving face - yours. They would never dream to insinuate you had been significant, fat, obese, or chubby. You just take place to fall into the category of Won Sigh.

As I departed Robinsons in my new muumuu, nearly tripping over the hemline, I got a glimpse of my reflection in the display window. YIKES! Image Hilo Hattie in strappy sandals.

(Excerpted from A Broad Abroad in Thailand by Dodie Cross, with permission).