Down with democracy! Wear a hat!

It might surprise urban Thai, some of whom know more of cellphones and expensive cars than they know of the country’s history and traditions, that the village tradition is quite relaxed when it comes to bodily exposure. Many older women went bare-breasted even when I came here in the 1960s. The traditional “commoner” dress shown here suggests that the top may have been put on only for the purpose of the picture. Given that the face, neck, and chest is the hottest part of the body, exposure meant more comfort in the warm weather.

It is amusing to me that this old style was banned by pseudo-fascist political leaders in and during WW2 who aspired to a Mussolini  style of government within what they expected would be an Asian Japanese empire. Ironically “Proper” western style was required of women according to this government edict in 1941:

The people of Thailand must maintain national prestige ... by not dressing in improper manners which will damage the prestige of the country,e.g., wearing loose-ended sarongs, wearing only underpants, wearing sleeping garments, wearing loincloths, wearing no blouse or shirt, women wearing only undershirt or wrap-around ... and must maintain proper etiquette [by refraining from] unnecessary noise or improper language or behavior which ridicule those who try to promote national customs.

Some Thai history professors are claiming that the current call for "peoples government" is very similar to the call by Benito Mussolini in 1938, much copied and admred by the Thai Prime Minister Phibun in those same years.. What might the impact be in Thai fashion?

Dress required by law by royal decree in 1941. Bangkok Thai were to wake up one morning to face a government command that all women were required to wear hats like these. This is the same time as Thai were instructed to greet each other with "Sawatdee" an entirely made-up phrase previously unknown in the country.