Dress gets you jailed in UAE

SINGAPORE, 29 August 2017: The family of a Singaporean man jailed with a transgender friend in the United Arab Emirates for dressing in a “feminine” way called Friday for their release, as activists raced to raise funds for legal fees.

Fashion photographer, Muhammad Fadli bin Abdul Rahman, and transgender friend, Noor Vitriya Kistina Ibrahim, were arrested at a shopping mall in Abu Dhabi at the weekend and sentenced to a year in jail, according to relatives.

Fadli’s brother Saiful told AFP from Singapore that the pair were detained by the tourism police for “looking feminine”. Read more

Update on Grand Palace visits

BANGKOK, 2 November, 2016: Bangkok’s Grand Palace reopened its doors to visitors, 1 November, but the Tourism Authority of Thailand reiterated its earlier message that visitors to the palace should wear appropriate and respectable attire.

The country is in the midst of mourning for the the Late His Majesty the King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who passed away 13 October and is lying in state in the Throne Hall of the Grand Palace.

Specific sections of the Grand Palace reopened to tourists, but officials are on duty to ensure that visitors comply with the dress code. Read more

A nation mourns: Be mindful and considerate

BANGKOK, 19 October 2016: The Tourism Authority of Thailand has reissued an information statement for visitors to Thailand to clarify dress and behaviour.

It reaffirmed that most mourners in the country will dress in black or white clothes out of respect and reverence for the Late King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

It is not mandatory, especially for visitors, although TAT re-emphasised that tourists should “kindly wear appropriate and respectable attire in public.” Read more

Angkor bans scanty clothes

SIEM REAP, 11 July 2016: Tourists wearing scanty clothing or untidy dress could be barred from visiting Cambodia’s famed Angkor archeological park starting next month.

Khmer Times quoted Aspara Authority, the public organisation tasked with managing the UNESCO World Heritage site, saying it would introduce a ban on untidy and inappropriate dress to “protect” Cambodian culture.

The ban targets tourists who strip down almost to their underwear to beat the heat when visiting the temple sites. Read more

Thai tour guides face dress code

BANGKOK, 30 June 2015: Professional Tourist Guide Association of Thailand says the Department of Tourism should delay a plan to dress all registered guides in Thailand in uniforms.

Last Friday, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports’ Department of Tourism announced it would introduce uniforms to help identify registered guides and add more pressure on those who guide illegally.

The guides association president, Wirote Sitaprasertnand, told TTR Weekly that the new regulation due to start, 1 October, received a mixed response from guides, some saying they support the move, while others objecting in principle to the need to wear a uniform.

Read more