Public Affection in Thai Culture

In the Western world public displays of affection are very common. You will often see couples holding hands and kissing in public. No-one even thinks twice if they see this in public. It is considered very normal behaviour. But despite Thailand's reputation among many Westerners as being the sex capital of the world, Thai culture actually frowns upon public displays of affection.

No Thai women, even bar girls, feel comfortable with public displays of affection. Kissing in public is seen as shameful and inconsiderate. As Thailand has started to become more westernized, you may see some couples holding hands, but this only tens to happen in Bangkok.

If you have a Thai girlfriend, she may even expect you to walk a few feet away from her when out in public in Thailand. To the Western man this may seem like she has lost interest in you, but this is very important to the Thai woman. In most parts of Thailand, if a Thai woman is seen holding hands with a Western man, it might be assumed that she is a bar girl and that you are her customer. She wants to avoid these judgements at all costs, so respect her wishes.

But what's interesting is that it parts of Thailand it's very normal to see two women holding hands, because they are friends and are therefore allowed to show affection to each other.

On Thai television, lip kissing has only recently begun to appear in some of the latest films. And often, the kissing will be done by a double, because the Thai actress doesn't want the stigma of being seen kissing.

Thai culture is very conservative, despite what you may have seen in parts of Bangkok. If you visited Soho in London for a weekend, you wouldn't assume that the whole of the UK is like that, so don't make the same assumption about Thailand, based on visiting a few of Bangkok's entertainment districts.