Thai males use the pha-khao-ma to substitute for belts. Sometimes they also use is as another garment placed across the shoulder or around the neck when they leave home. To help protect them from the glaring sun, they will sometimes wrap the pha-khao-ma around their heads. Occasionally, it is used to carry personal effects or as a body towel. Thai females, too, find functional purposes for the pha-khao-ma. In Thai rural areas, it is still a practice for females to use the pha-khao-ma as a substitute for a brassiere or as a bathing sarong.