Sanuk-on-Sea

Life at the beach

Beachbumming used to be a holiday from the humdrum; now people take their lifestyle on vacation with them. As Thais grow more affluent, mobile and stratified, their beach culture reflects the global consumerist trend for individualist spas, bars and pool villas over guidebooks, sightseeing and package tours. When the world thinks of Thailand, it still thinks beach. Thailand earns billions pandering to tourist fantasies about the four Ss of beachcombing: sun, sand, sea and sex. Local beach culture is distinctly different. Thai beachgoers avoid the sun, censor the sex, and focus on five other Ss: sand, sea, snacks, sanuk and status. Beachgoing has status, because, as in the West, it originated as an elite retreat.

A holiday tan looks healthful and prestigious in the West, yet to Thais loses status. Pale ‘Sunbakers’ risk getting melanoma by roasting their oil-basted flesh to resemble the golden glow of Siamese skin that Thais disparage in themselves or others as Piew dum (black skin). Whiteness implies outsoot work escaped, status accrued, merit earned. So tanning harms both your face and you ‘face’.

Seaside pastimes also differ. Farang savours the shushing of waves as they quietly sizzle in solitude. Languid swims punctuate chapters in ‘airport novels’ with embossed covers. Besides rousing for the occasional parasail, dive or frisbee-toss, there’s rest to recoup, salads to nibble, cocktails to sup, Lycra to adjust so tan lines blur.

Thai group beach activity involves non-stop picnicking, whisky sharing, card dealing, guitar strumming, singing, larking, and photographing each other. Locals are as coy as Thai beachgoers in dressing up to swim. It’s not just about the sun, but modesty. Stripping down offends many Thais.

Very Thai River Books by Philip Cornwel-Smith with photos by John Goss and Philip Cornwel-Smith B995

“Very Thai: Everyday Popular Culture” is a virtual bible on Thai pop culture and an influential must-read among foreigners and Thais. It guides you on an unconventional technicolor tour of the quirky things that make Thailand Thai. Prepare yourself for the sideways logic and snap up a copy of the new edition at any good bookshop.