Hi-So Lo-So

There is some interesting terminology here in Thailand that reflects some cultural realities that, while they are not unique to Thailand, certainly seem alien to my American and Australian egalitarian background. 

In Thailand, the term Hi-So is a shortened version of high society.  It describes someone who is rich (or at least well-to-do), attractive, fashionable and possibly famous.  It’s corollary, Lo-So can be applied to people who are none of these things.

I live just a few blocks away from a posh shopping mall called The Emporium.  Because it is just a short walk from my home, and it has a covered walkway between the mall and the BTS sky train station, it is a handy place to meet people, and it can be a pleasant place to spend an afternoon away from the oppressive Bangkok heat. 

A few months ago, I wanted to take a friend of mine named Gig – a dark-skinned daughter of an Isaan farmer – to the movies.  I asked her to meet me at the Emporium.  “No, pleeeeaaase!” she pleaded. “Can we go to Mahboonkrong instead?” Mahboonkrong (or MBK) is a large shopping mall on a different train line a few kilometers away.  You go to MBK to buy a mobile phone, choosing from about a thousand vendors, to buy pirated DVDs in small shops, or to get cheap off-the-rack clothing and accessories.  It is filled with students and bar girls on a budget. 

I pointed out that MBK was much less convenient for me and for her, and asked her why she didn’t want to go to the movies at Emporium.  “Emporium is hi-so”, she told me, “I am lo-so.” So even though she’s with me, and I have enough money to take care of everything, in Thailand’s highly class-conscious society she is uncomfortable even walking through an upscale shopping mall. Thai people – at least the ones on the bottom of the pile – are taught that they are what they are, and they can’t really change that.  Something as basic as the shade of their skin will help define their place in the world for their entire lives.  Lighter skin equals more desirable; conversely darker skin is less desirable. 

I wanted to make the point to Gig that she isn’t pre-destined to a specific place in life, and that she can be more than she perceives herself to be today.  So, I asked her some questions designed to make her think about her ability to break out of the mold in which she feels cast.   

I asked her why she is lo-so, and she replied, “I don’t know.” 

When I asked if she wanted to be hi-so, she said, “Of course.” 

I asked how she could become hi-so, she said, “I don’t know.  I’ll never be hi-so.” 

In the end, I just gave up and met her at MBK.   

This week I met a young girl, who speaks English fairly well, goes to university, is fairly tall for a Thai girl, has fair skin and who was born in Bangkok.  I met her in a plush nightclub where she was working, so I was a little unsure of where to place her on the social scale.  Most of the evidence pointed to the hi-so end, but the undeniable fact that she was working in a night club – no matter how plush – pointed directly at the lo-so end. 

I wanted to make a date with her.  In my experience, the easiest way to get a first date with a Thai girl is to invite her for shopping and a movie.  Like women everywhere, they love shopping, and the whole atmosphere is non-threatening. 

She agreed to the idea in principle, then asked where we would go shopping.  Now this is a loaded question.  If I offer the weekend market, which is fun and filled with bargains, I can seem either fun-loving or a cheap bastard.  If I say MBK, I’m telling her that I think she’s lo-so and probably not very special.  If I say Emporium, I risk making her uncomfortable if she doesn’t see herself as hi-so. 

All things considered, Emporium seemed the safest choice, especially since she knew I live nearby.  But when I actually suggested that we would go shopping Emporium she laughed out loud and proclaimed that she’s a lo-so girl, and couldn’t be seen shopping in Emporium!  So I laughed with her, and asked if she’d rather go to JJ Market (an outdoor market in the northern part of the city known for its low cost bargains and its suffocating heat).  She said that JJ Market sounded more her style, proving once again that sanuk (fun) wins out over political correctness every time in Thailand.