Thais Promote Breast-Enhancement Exercise

Yahoo! News - Thais Promote Breast-Enhancement Exercise

BANGKOK, Thailand - Concern over "miracle" creams, and a recent bare-breast promotion of one product, has prompted the Health Ministry to campaign for breast-enhancement through exercise, the national news agency said Sunday.



The products were spotlighted last week after police charged three models and the makers of a "15-minute breast-enhancement cream" with indecent exposure after a bare-all demonstration.


The company said it staged the event to prove the effectiveness of the cream, critics said it offended traditional Thai sensibilities and the Ministry of Public Health ordered it off the shelves pending a scientific investigation of its claims.


"I'd like to warn women that before purchasing such products they should check that they have been licensed by the Food and Drug Administration (news - web sites). If they haven't passed inspection, they could be dangerous," Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan was quoted by the Thai News Agency as saying Saturday.


She said that the "best way to enhance one's breasts is to engage in suitable forms of exercise," adding that her ministry would campaign for women to engage in such exercise to counter the popularity of the breast-enhancement roducts.


In a promotional event on Thursday, the models exposed their bosoms, with only their nipples covered, for a massage with the cream, which is supposed to shape and firm female breasts.


Television news devoted extensive coverage to the event, while many newspapers plastered pictures of a bare-breasted model on their front pages.


Thai youth have adopted liberal Western lifestyles, but a backlash has developed in defense of traditional conservative values — despite the country's well-entrenched image as a raunchy paradise for sex tourists.


Last year, the government criticized Thai models for appearing on the catwalk with too much skin exposed, and the press and authorities have slammed young women for wearing revealing clothing such as spaghetti-strap tank tops.