Lucifer

BANGKOK, Thailand — In the mascaraed eyes of Thai teenyboppers, South  Korea is ground zero of hip. More than Lady Gaga, more than any local  act, Bangkok kids aspire to the saccharine perfection of Korean pop.

   Thai authorities, however, have proven less welcoming of the “K-Pop”  phenomenon. With each new Korean fashion craze comes official warnings  that the new fad may blind, disfigure or even kill.

   The Seoul-born craze for “Big Eye” contacts can cause blindness and, if  swapped among friends, AIDS, according to Thailand’s health ministry.  Officials warn that prickly glue-on eyelashes, popular among Korean  divas, can put your eye out. Yet another public service announcement  warns against imitating Korean looks through surgery or toxic whitening  creams.

   The latest advisory blames trendy black hosiery — another fashion  import from Seoul — for a summer rash of dengue fever in women aged 10  to 24. The mosquitoes are drawn to the leggings’ dark hues, said Deputy  Health Minister Pansiri Kulanartsiri.

   “It’s upsetting the way people dress, especially teenage groups, all  through the cities and countryside,” Pansiri said. “The popular fashion  is leggings and sexy pants. It’s this trendy fashion hit from Korea.”

                           All of these trends are lumped under what sociologists call the “Korean  Wave.” (The press has called it “Kim Chic.”) Roughly 10 years ago, the  South Korean government began subsidizing the export of slick soap  operas and pop groups for pan-Asian consumption.

   The investment paid off. Teens across Asia are now addicted to Korean  pop culture: soaps, boy bands and films. The wave has steadily grown in  China, Japan and all of Southeast Asia, where drab state-controlled  media often struggle to compete.

   Korea has essentially provided a template for modern Asian glamour. Its  stars are glossy lipped and porcelain smooth. K-Pop singers are  assembled into boy or girl groups in which airbrushed aesthetics are  arguably more important than their synthesized music. The genre’s  calling card is flawless, surgically perfect cuteness.

   What the Bangkok press calls “Korean Fever” exploded in Thailand around  2006. Since then, Korean soap operas have aired in Thailand roughly 100  minutes per day, according to the Korea-Thailand Communication Center.  In the last 10 years, the craze has more than doubled the number of Thai  visitors to Korea to nearly 200,000.

   Some Thai authorities, however, have cast Korean Fever as an overtly sexual, superficial threat to Thai culture.

   “We shouldn’t have the intention to imitate and go crazy for another  culture until we’ve forgotten our own,” said Teera Salakpet, former head  of Thailand’s culture ministry, in a speech last year. “We need to  instill the beauty of Thai culture in our youth.”







Global Post.

Haven't read past the first few pages, but, where is the best place to have a complete medical check up in Bangkok?

Ta.