By Giordano Stolley
Bangkok - There's an old adage that size doesn't matter. Well, that is not always the case, especially if you happen to be an expatriate woman living in Thailand.
Apart from older foreign men running off with young Thai women, there can hardly be anything that arouses the passion of expatriate women in Bangkok more than the issue of brassieres - or the bra as it is more commonly known.
So what's the fuss? Thai women are just that much smaller in certain respects, and the local market does not cater to the thousands of expatriate women resident in this metropolis, who happen to be bigger.
Even a lady of minor proportions, say from Germany, can suddenly find herself going from a 36A to a 38C in the course a 12-hour flight from Frankfurt to Bangkok. Flattering you might say, but for the woman entering one of Bangkok's many department stores it is not a pleasant experience being told by one of the many smiling Thai shop assistants, "No. No. Tua yai" - "No. No. Big body." It can, in some cases, be soul destroying.
Such is the problem for women when it comes to their underwear - bras in particular - that Canadian diplomats posted to Thailand are advised to purchase a sufficient quantity before leaving for the Land of Smiles, as they may not find their size.
A spokeswoman for the US embassy in Bangkok was absolutely blunt, "Unless I get it made, it doesn't fit."
Bonnie Meyer, a teacher from Pretoria, said, "It's not possible to get a bra here that fits. Women with big breasts just do not exist in this country."
Ironically, Thailand manufactures enormous quantities of ladies underwear, but it is aimed at the Asian market only.
Triumph International's Klaus Otremba said the expatriate market was too small. "It's a mini-niche when we think of our Asian market total." He said that Triumph does try to meet expatriate demand with imports.
Officially there are 31 231 non-Asians living in the country, of which 9 349 are women. However, the British embassy alone estimated that 20 000 of its citizens live in Thailand. Unofficial estimates place the total expatriate population as high as 200 000.
Cup-size is not the only problem with Thai bras, but the underbust measurement also causes havoc. Thai women are narrower around the torso. The result is problematic as one Canadian embassy employee explained, "You know, the cups are closer together, even if you do find a cup size that fits you."
A Canadian embassy employee from Ottawa said, "I thought with a small bust it would be much easier here. But it isn't. I was told I was too big. I really got a complex at first."
A product manager said her friends who are farang - the Thai word for caucasians - get all excited when they hear that she works at a major bra manufacturer. "When I hear of their problems, I think I should go into business for myself."
She says another difference is that the Thai market addresses maximising one's assets, but even those expatriate women who are small enough to fit into Thai bras do not like the padding that comes with them.
"It's too hot," complained Suzanne Thibault of the Thai-Canadian Chamber of Commerce, a 12-year resident in Bangkok. Vancouver's Rosemary Imlah, president of the Canadian Woman's Group, said, "The padded look went out years ago. Most farang women don't need them and go with the natural look."
Only at Marks & Spencer can Western women get what is called Eurofit, but at a price. "I found some bras at Marks & Spencer's, but for double the price I would pay at Woolworths," complained Bonnie Meyer.
Import duties as high as 60 per cent and a fluctuating exchange rate raise the price of the imported bras substantially. A spokesman for Marks and Spencer did not comment on the criticism that the selection is too limited.
But while bras are a problem, bathing costumes also raise passions. A freelance South African editor from Cape Town, who did not want to be named, said, "I am not huge and I am not skinny. I am normal, but I still have a problem. Bathing suits are a big discussion point among farang women. Even if you manage to squeeze into the bottom half, the top part doesn't fit."
"We have buttocks," Suzanne Thibault complained indignantly. Johannesburg's Beverly Paxton, one of very few women who said she could get bras, agreed, "Bottoms don't fit. You just have to look at them to know they're not going to fit. It's the hip size."
While some women come out to Thailand with a big supply of bras, the humid climate means that the elastic perishes twice as fast.
So what is the solution? One Russian woman said she bought maternity bras to get the right fit, even though she had her last child more than 20 years ago. - Sapa-DPA