 Poster: A snowHead
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I was just on holiday in Thailand...and had a bizarre skiing moment:
We were staying with close Thai friends who live in the outer suburbs of Bangkok (among other places). This is a district where tourists just do not go, frankly there is no reason to go there if you don't live there.
However there is a lare shopping centre. Nothing odd about that (so far)...lots of shops and in the pedestrian areas there were "stalls" selling jewelry, clothes etc. You often see the same arrangements in shopping malls in the west. I stress these are not selling to foreigners/tourists, strictly a locals environment.
One of the stalls was selling (offering for sale would be more accurate) ski clothing...and lots of it availalble! Columbia, Patagonia names like that. Good prices too.
I don't think these were copies, from what I understood (rudimentory Thai) they were seconds from the Thai manufacturers.
The bizarre thing was that they were even attempting to sell them there at all! It was 38-42 C degrees outside, its never less than 30! These products were less than useless to the local clients.
Maybe downtown a few tourists would be attreacted enough by the prices to put something in their luggage, but here it was 99.9% Thais.
Very odd.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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rungsp, Perhaps the seller could take the line that on days like that one when the ambient temperature is 38-42 deg C (which is 1-5 deg C above core body temp), the skiwear would insulate the wearer from the external heat...
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Don't Thais ever go on ski holidays then?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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sometimes it gets chillier, esp up in the hills, and people who live in that sort of climate feel the need for warm clothes more than we do. We were living in Barbados when my youngest child was born. Temperatures were generally over 30 but I was regularly admonished by old ladies in the street because my baby just had a sunhat and T shirt to keep the sun off - Barbadian babies wore the whole baby outfit - knitted bonnets, bootees, matinee jackets etc whatever the weather. One of my Bajan friends had a baby at the same time as I did, and it was only after the poor kid suffered a lot of heat-induced rashes that she could be persuaded that babies in temperatures in the low 30s didn't need to be bundled up in woolies. Lots of the stuff in shops for kids was, to our way of thinking, wholly unsuited to the climate - thick denim jeans, leather cowboy boots, a lot of polyester, baby dresses with frills, and thick smocking, and sleeves. We were given some pretty but very hot and uncomfortable baby dresses as gifts, and I had to put the poor kid in them when the donor came to visit, then get her out of them as soon as they left! However, I never saw any ski clothing in the shops there...
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Reminds me of the time when I was in Miami and went downtown to buy some golf clubs, only to find the shop I had been told about was now selling ski gear!!!!!!!!
When I asked the guy why, he said 'to much competition in golf gear'
Suppose you could use the same argument for selling bikinis in Saudi Arabia or condoms in Rome.........
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PG...not so bizarre...it was that thread that reminded me of what we had seen and prompted this thread.
Pam W, you are right about cool weather in the hills...but those hills are about a 10 hour drive from Bangkok, and the people who live there don't tend to come to Bangkok to shop....so I stand by my "bizarre".
The ski jackets I could perhaps envisage being worn in the hills around Chiang Rai on a cold night (a sweater is enough though), but the salopettes???
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There is a tiny indoor snow slope in singapore and I understand can be snow on top of mount kinabalu in that region.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Ski Thai
[useful for holding your skis together]
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Made of Thai silk presumably?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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No, I think it's Goretex
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Thai dyed design, naturally.
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rungsp, I was in Thailand last September and the temperature was around 27-33deg C, nevermind the 90% humidity! The locals were wearing jeans and light jackets out in the country about one hour from Bangkok because it was cold!!! We never stopped sweating! So just maybe, there is some call for ski jackets! But I see your point, it's hard to imagine that there is much demand for that sort of thing.
Maybe the locals buy it wholesale and sell it on at the tourist markets etc. Also, don't tourists go out to Chatachuk (sp?) market on the outskirts?
More importantly, did you pick up a bargain?
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