Get me a pretty face (1)

'We need a pretty girl in the photograph,' I said.

I was speaking to the Thai owner of an engineering firm in Bangkok. A foreign friend and I have been preparing a brochure for the firm to give to overseas customers.

My foreign friend, farang S, is a gay engineer who works for the company. I am helping him write a brochure, handout, and hand-book for a product he designed.

Although the firm pays me, I am really working for farang S, as he is the only one there who can explain engineering concepts, or communicate in English.

In fact, he appears to do most of the work around the place - from designing products, to marketing and even selling them.

Nevertheless, today I found myself talking to a Thai woman, part of a husband and wife team who own the company.

'Foreign men like pretty Thai girls,' I reminded her.

The woman, aged in her 50s, is small, tough, and charming, with a dry sense of humour.

'You farang like dark skin..I am not sure I have many of those,' she said, looking around the shop floor.

We had already taken one woman's photograph. She was the head of an assembly line. We asked her to hold up a chipboard and smile sweetly while farang S took her picture on his camera.

'So this one's no good...I'll find another,' she said.

Foreigners try not to hurt people's feelings by telling them they look unattractive, if that's what we think. We keep the thought to ourselves.

Thais have no such qualms, because they enjoy teasing each other about their looks, and have fewer hang-ups about physical appearance. If you look fat, a Thai is likely to tell you so.

now, see part 2