Do you get sunburnt in Thailand?

[christianpfc]

Do you get sunburnt in Thailand?

I just got my second light sunburn this year in Paris. I never got a sunburn in Thailand. A friend said he got sunburnt in Scotland, but not in Spain. Any similar observations?

When in Thailand, I usally spend all days outside, in Europe only one day per week. In Europe as well as in Thailand I avoid exposure to sun, but do not use sunblock.

I did never get a sunburn during the 3 years I studied in England. (DonтАЩt laugh at the idea of getting a sunburn in England! An English colleage had such pale skin, she got sunburnt in England as well!)

[joe552]

I got badly burned on my first trip to Pattaya - spending a day on Koh Larn, primarily on my legs. It's not at all pleasant. I don't sit out in the sun anymore, preferring to enjoy my daily drinks in a shaded bar (my daytime favourite is the Pattaya Beer Garden).

[stevehadders]

I either burn like hell or nothing at all - extremes - especially if I visit the Islands I burn too much. In England I often burn when out sailing and even had a lick of sun this last weekend at a Thai Festival on the South Coast of England (amazing as it was very outcast with only short spell of sun!)
Joe - where is the Pattaya beer Garden - i don't know it

[cameroncat]

You should burn faster in tropic zones than northern zones. Fastest place I ever burned was Australia. Burned my scalp even though I have a full head of hair!
Now, after too many years of tanning like most Baby Boomers, My skin is a mess and I avoid the sun like the plague!

[gregvc]

Skin cancers can take decades to show. Aust has a very high rate of skin cancers and the public has been warned off sunbaking. You only have to see some Queensland women in their fifties to see the "leathery skin" effect. Yuk!

[Marsilius]

My experience is exactly the same as yours, christianpfc. I never use sun block. I often get accidentally burned in Europe, but in Thailand it is simply so hot that I keep out of direct sunlight when out for a long time - e.g. I always sit under an umbrella or two on Dontang beach. I return to the UK, as a result, looking slightly tanned but nowhere near burned.

[Jellybean]

Good question Christian. I spend 6-9 months of the year in Thailand and IтАЩve never had sunburn. I use factor 30 and wear a cap on my head when out in the sun. When on a beach, or sitting by a pool, IтАЩll sit under an umbrella or sit in the shade.

Why do I take such precautions? Well when I was a child I went to the beach with a group of kids under the тАШsupervisionтАЩ of a neighbour who thought it was a good idea to use vinegar instead of suntan lotion. Well, as you can imagine, I just fried and later my skin burned, blackened and eventually peeled off. It was a very painful experience. I was warned that as a consequence of my neighbourтАЩs irresponsible behaviour I was at greater risk of developing skin cancer as an adult. One doctor told me that pale skinned Brits, if they wanted to protect their skin, should come back from their foreign holidays just as white as they were when they went away.

I have very pale skin (in Thai - p─нu k─Гao) which the Thai boys I encounter say they prefer to, what they call, their black skin (p─нu dam). Whereas I would much rather have, what I prefer to call, their lovely olive skin (p─нu klam).

Yes i got bad sunburn when i first went to pattaya on Dogtan beach.....i fell asleep in the sun...with coconut oil on
bad mistake...i now try to be carefull about sunbathing

[Dalewood]

Years ago, I spent Songkran in Phuket. I rented a motorcycle and was all over the place all day long. I wore what we call an "athletic shirt" (bare shoulders) in the States. The second morning I woke up with a sore shoulder and thought I had just slept in the wrong position. I was shocked when my skin began to peel a few days later....that close to the equator, "Mother Africa" did not protect me. Lesson Learned!!!

[christianpfc]

I often get accidentally burned in Europe, but in Thailand it is simply so hot that I keep out of direct sunlight when out for a long time

So do I.

My point is that a felt equal exposure to sun gives me a sunburn in Europe and a suntan in Thailand.

It seems UV radiation (which causes sunburn) is not proportional to heat or closeness to the equator. A friend got a suntan from skiing and I once read somewhere [citation needed] that you can get sunblind in the arctics.