# Me love you BIG time?



## gino

From an article on obesity:

Not long ago in Bangkok I observed some children, obviously of the elite, emerging from a school. There are not many fat people in Thailand, but these children were fat.

Like so many of their counterparts in the West, they seemed unable, or unwilling, to progress further than a few yards without refreshing themselves with sweetened drinks and fast fatty food. And they were being collected by chauffeurs or adoring parents so that they might be spared the rather minimal exercise afforded by going home by public transportation.

As yet in Thailand, the poor mostly cannot afford to be fat, but that time will come, and then the great reversal will occur: The elite will abandon its fattening habits, and take seriously the advice of the late Duchess of Windsor: that one can be neither too rich nor too thin.​
Our Big Problem: Obesity | By Theodore Dalrymple - WSJ.com

My image of Asian women, at least the young ones, has always been slim, lanky and svelte, epitomized perhaps by Leanne Hong, the actress who played the motorcycle hooker in Stanley Kubrick’s _Full Metal Jacket_. But I’m seeing a lot of obese young people in Bangkok. Old ones too. 

Is a consequence of Bangkok’s booming economy? Or is it an inevitable consequence of the proliferation of food vendors? Or is it a consequence of the United States exporting fast food franchises? These are everywhere: McDonald’s, Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken and other familiar franchises. The menus are different, but no less fattening or more nutritious. Coca-Cola and various candies are also ubiquitous. 

I’ve never understood the allure of drinking a soda with one’s meal. It seems a bit like sprinkling sugar on your steak. Admittedly, A.1. Steak Sauce contains corn syrup, but I never use it. If you need to disguise the flavor of your steak, you either aren’t eating a very good cut of meat or it’s been indifferently prepared.


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## Guest

It's something I've noticed in Chiang Mai too. Last year my tuk-tuk driver gleefully reported the visit of the owner of the Spotlight Bar the previous night to their biggest competitor in town, Foxy Lady, whereupon he returned to berate his own mamasans and the girls for being chubby, verging on fat. Not necessarily something that is appreciated by the patrons, nor indeed the _patron_, of a go-go establishment...

I wouldn't say that "a lot" of the girls are obese, however. Seeing the students wandering around the university campuses, they mostly look to have the typical slim Asian figure, male and female. However in the tourist areas, where most of the bar girls hang out, even if they are rarely spotted with a Big Mac or equivalent, they do seem to spend a lot of time eating, especially when it's quiet. The amount of alcohol that many consume can't help either.

Another factor last summer for instance, that may give a false impression. A lot of the 'wealthier' girls - and usually the most attractive - can afford to go home when times are hard, and there are few customers in town; the less successful often stay at work. Presumably the problems in Bangkok at the moment may have encouraged those with the means to get out of town to do so, and return to their families seeing as the current shenanigans have led to the equivalent of a low season.

Still you have a point. Fast food is selling well wherever you travel in the world, and S.E. Asia is no exception.


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## gino

*I’m not sure I’m buying into this theory.*



frogblogger said:


> Another factor last summer for instance, that may give a false impression. A lot of the 'wealthier' girls - and usually the most attractive - can afford to go home when times are hard, and there are few customers in town; the less successful often stay at work. Presumably the problems in Bangkok at the moment may have encouraged those with the means to get out of town to do so, and return to their families seeing as the current shenanigans have led to the equivalent of a low season.




People will curtail luxuries during difficult economic times. Those who drink beer and/or bottled water may switch from imported brands to domestic brands or from exotic imports to more proletarian brands. They may give up the premium cable package with twenty movie channels for a less expensive option with one or two. They may opt to repair their cars and appliances rather than trading in on new models and may wear their suits and shoes a bit longer. 

But how does that affect the economies of the bar girl trade? Granted, there are fewer tourists due to economic circumstances and political instability. Those who remain may be more frugal. 

There does seem to be certain tiers to the fees charged by bar girls. There is a three-story complex of bars on Nana where I was told the bar fines escalate as one rises to the upper floors. I assume the girls on the street command considerably more modest fees than the girls working in the bars. 

Price isn’t the only factor that comes into play. Slam down enough shots of tequila and chubby girls can look much more appealing than they might when you first enter the bar. 

But I don’t think sexual preferences change. The guy who prefers slender girls isn’t going to decide he likes chubby girls simply because they are more affordable any more than the beer-drinker will switch to vodka for a cheaper buzz. 

I suggest that finding a suitable bar girl is something akin to choosing sides in sports. If you only have one baseball diamond and thirty kids in gym class, the less capable kids won’t play very often but the strong players will be chosen every game. 

There is somebody for everybody and the girls I don’t give a second glance may be fascinating to the next guy; however, I would expect that if anybody were to be squeezed out of the bar girl game, it would be the least desirable not the ones considered by most to be the hottest.


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## Guest

I wasn't suggesting that the 'hottest' are squeezed out, on the contrary. Their relative wealth just means that they can pick and choose when to take a break, to go home and visit the family, and the usual time for this is during the low season, or other random quiet times. So I was told, anyway.


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## gino

*Not again!*



frogblogger said:


> I wasn't suggesting that the 'hottest' are squeezed out, on the contrary. Their relative wealth just means that they can pick and choose when to take a break, to go home and visit the family, and the usual time for this is during the low season, or other random quiet times. So I was told, anyway.


Once again you’ve bested me, FB. I’ve overindulged on a few occasions, but never to that extent. I once had a thirty-six hour stop-over in the Philippines, and thought I would spend some quality time with a girl I had met there a few weeks earlier. She had other plans. I wound up hosting a party with a somewhat fluid group of about seven girls and one ubiquitous uniformed waitress. I wound up taking five of the girls dancing for my very first quintuple date. The original girl wasn’t entirely happy to see my attentions divided, but shouldn’t have started something she wasn’t prepared to see through. 

I was never much of a drinker. I do enough crazy stuff when I’m sober. Recently I’ve been trying to get back into shape, and have cut out all alcohol, soft drinks, candy and snack foods, although I occasionally cheat on the snack foods or binge on a pint of Ben and Jerry’s. It’s been over seventeen months since I’ve had a drink. I don’t think I’m any less crazy, but I do seem to fall in love less often. 

A guy I met in one of my Thai language classes took me to the Beer Garden on my first trip to Bangkok. There were a couple of attractive girls there, but none to compare with the girl from Phuket who had accompanied me to Bangkok and had bowed out after dinner in favor of waiting at the hotel. She didn’t seem to like that guy or his friend. I was more interested in getting back than in exploring new acquaintances.


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