A crowd awaits a boat at Maiton Island in Phuket, Thailand. The magazine Tan aims to encourage Thais to shed their long-sleeve outfits at the beach and to stop worrying about getting tanned.PHOTO: ATHIT PERAWONGMETHA/REUTERS
Joey, or Apisit Opasaimlikit, to give his full name, said he wants to provide an alternative. Recent issues of his magazine ran articles on surfing and skateboarding. Its cover models often sport deep tans. One piece went as far as to explain how to apply self-tanning creams to get that sun-bronzed beach look.
“The idea is to go outside and do something. Don’t stay at home worrying about your skin-whitening cream,” said Joey, who at 41 is now one of Thailand’s best-known performers.
It is difficult to convey how radical an idea this is in Thailand and across much of the rest of Asia. For young women in particular, the pressure to maintain or develop a fair complexion is intense. Sociologists say skin tone in many Asian countries is widely linked with social class as well as beauty. Darker skin is often associated with manual laborers or farmers exposed to the sun, while lighter tones are viewed as a sign of wealth and status.
This helps drive a market for skin-whitening products that is projected to swell to $20 billion a year by the end of the decade, according to consulting firm Global Industry Analysts Inc.