Thai school uniform boom in China fuels hope for tourism recovery
Social media post by Chinese actress starts cosplay trend among visitors
Chinese customers pose in Thai student uniforms at the Sriphan store. (Photo from Sriphan's Facebook page)KOSUKE INOUE, Nikkei staff writerMarch 19, 2023 14:03 JST
BANGKOK -- Sparked by a single social media post, Thailand's school uniforms have become a major draw for Chinese tourists, prompting hopes of a possible boost to the southeast Asian country's tourism industry.
"This is the first time in the 60 years since our founding that we have received so much attention," said Yenjit Atsawaprichawong, owner of Sriphan, a school uniform store in Bangkok. Since March, Chinese customers, mainly women in their 20s, have been visiting the shop almost every day, purchasing uniforms to wear while taking pictures in various places.
The boom can be traced to a recent social media post by Ju Jingyi, a popular Chinese actress and singer. In February, Ju posted photos on Instagram of herself wearing a Thai school uniform, apparently dressed as a character from the Thai comedy movie "A Little Thing Called Love."
Uniforms are required at many junior high schools and high schools in Thailand. A girl's uniform typically consists of a dress shirt with a ribbon tied at the collar and a knee-length navy blue skirt. The basic uniform for boys is a white dress shirt and shorts. Girl's uniforms at Sriphan sell for 600 baht ($17) for a full set.
The emergence of school uniforms as a potential tourist attraction for Thailand would follow in the footsteps of Japan. Known around the world, the country's high school girl's uniforms have been a boon to the Japanese tourism industry, with visitors dressing up in the outfits and buying them as souvenirs.
In 2022, the Thai government launched a committee under the guidance of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha to oversee the promotion of Thai culture as part of a wider push to boost the country's soft power. The committee has since rolled out several initiatives, including a tour launched on a trial basis last summer of filming locations for Thailand's popular "boys' love" TV dramas.
China accounted for nearly 30% of all foreign tourists entering Thailand before the pandemic, the most of any country. The recovery of the tourism industry -- the backbone of the Thai economy -- is expected to depend on inbound Chinese tourist numbers, underscoring the potential value of the new school uniform trend.
