Naturism in Thailand and beyond

Today, June 10 marks the opening of the 5th International Naturist and Nudist Conference in Thailand, hosted by the Naturist Association of Thailand on a lake.
The choice of site is original, and in many ways the association itself is also groundbreaking. Naturism has for too long been thought of as a mainly European, overwhelmingly Caucasian affair. Virtually each European country now has free clothing-optional beaches, naturist hotels or at least resorts where one can play sports, walk, run, swim, eat or just sunbathe naked.
Naturism also exists in other continents, in Latin America, in South Africa, and of course in Australia and New Zealand, the latter playing host to the International Naturist Federation's world congress in November this year.
Yet Thailand is the spearhead of an effort to make naturism more acceptable in Asia, and it is working. Since its inception years ago, NAT has been successful in converting more resort operators in the Southeast Asian country - one of the world's top holiday destinations - to give naturism a chance.
According to the NAT website, http://thailandnaturist.com, at least two new resorts are likely to open in the near future, the first on the popular island of Phuket, the other west of Bangkok. That comes in addition to those already in existence in other tourist destinations like Pattaya, Chiang Mai and the Bangkok region.
One of the features of this weekend's three-day conference is that NAT is also looking beyond Thailand to help local naturists set up similar associations in other Asian countries, such as India.
Residing in Taiwan, I know what the problems are. Public nudity is banned in most countries in the area, and even topless bathing is unseen or frowned upon. Add to that, the fear of many Asians of the hot sun in their countries, driving them away from beaches, and the beauty ideal which says that a white skin is more beautiful than a healthy tan.
Topless bathing and naturism are also not allowed in Thailand, but because the naturist resorts are shut off from the outside world, they are legal, as the nudity is not deemed public.
The more than 50 delegates from over a dozen countries present at the Thai conference will enjoy water games and a trip on rafts, but they will also discuss the situation of naturism in India, the Southeast Asian ASEAN nations, and other countries.
Last June 5 was World Naturism Day, this weekend sees NATCON 2016 in Thailand and many World Naked Bike Rides across the globe, leading into the summer, which should see naturist activities all over the world.
Now is the best time to prepare for more naturism, and try it during your holiday, even if it's just an hour on a free beach somewhere.

I am a Thailand Naturist

Little did I know in December 2011, when I chose the Naturist Association of Thailand as my Real Naturist of the Year 2011, that the organization would take such a flight and that I would join it.
According to its website http://thailandnaturist.com, it now has more than 1,400 members, not just in Thailand, but worldwide. And from now on, that also includes me.
No, I do not live in Thailand, but only four hours flying away, and that's why I joined.
Most Asian countries ban public nudity in all its forms, including the non-sexual social nudity of naturism, which is so popular in other parts of the world, with free nude beaches, resorts, hotels and campings. None of those exist in the Asian country I live in, so my only naturist periods so far have been at home or during short visits to Europe, where I managed to fit in a day at a beach, if the weather happened to cooperate.
Thanks to the NAT, that should now change, because not only is it an organization, it also has succeeded in letting naturist resorts get off the ground in Thailand.
I haven't visited any of them yet, but I have been taking a look at their websites.
There is the Oriental Village in North Thailand's Chiang Mai (www.orientalvillage-chiangmai.com) which looks like paradise, in the middle of rice fields, with a sunny pool and beautiful villas. Speaking on a personal note, its location might be the downside for me. Being remote from the town, it would be difficult to find outside restaurants, while the fact that it also caters to non-naturists might be positive for my non-naturist wife, but not for me.
On the opposite side of the scale, there is the Chan Resort (www.chanresort.com) in busy Pattaya. No problems finding restaurants, shops and nightlife there, I'm sure. The only drawback - and it's a small one - is that it feels a bit locked in. Since there are no naturist beaches, it's not possible to walk along in the sand to the edge of the sea, there's only the swimming pool, which you can see in the picture above.
What sounds great is that the Chan Resort is also the site of an annual international naturist conference, this year on June 4-11. I have not decided yet whether to go. The only such event I attended before, was the International Naturist Federation congress in 2004 at the Croatian resort of Valalta. My biggest disappointment there was that because there was a rule that you had to wear clothes inside the buildings, the whole naturist congress was ... textile! I do hope and expect that will not be the case at the Chan Resort.
The third resort that caught my attention was the Sala Villas (www.salavillas.com), also in Pattaya close to the Chan Resort, which does not have real pictures on its site yet. It has the same advantages as the other Pattaya place, though one practical drawback is that for some reason it does not accept credit cards. In contrast to the Oriental Village, it is very strict about being nude inside the resort, which is good for me, bad for my non-naturist wife.
Having made those remarks, I must praise all of those resorts for doing a great job in launching naturism in one of Asia's most beautiful countries.
With a lessening of political tension on the horizon, I am hopeful that I might soon be able to stay at one of them. The Chan Resort might be my first choice, during the conference or not, but I want to give the others a try too.
Thailand was already a frequent destination for my travels around 2006, and the NAT is likely to put it back near the top from 2014 on.

INF World Congress and the Future of Asianaturist

Admittedly, we didn't find many reports about the 32nd World Congress of the International Naturist Federation last weekend in Pizzo Greco, Italy. During, just before and after the congress I looked up the web sites of major Italian newspapers such as La Stampa, Corriere della Sera and La Repubblica, but I couldn't find anything. Maybe, the reports were too well hidden, or they just did not bother amid all the infighting in Italian politics, the economy and the 9/11 anniversary.
Over the following weeks, I'm sure more news about the decisions and discussions at the INF World Congress will become known. Unfortunately, it might take at least two weeks and maybe one month before that news will reach you through this blog, because we are taking that time for a leave.
A trip to Europe is the first reason - the wrong time of the year to be visiting many naturist beaches, that is sure - but we are also rethinking the approach of this blog. Reporting on naturism in Asia is interesting because there are many naturists in this continent waiting for their governments to catch on to the benefits of naturism just like countries mainly in Europe, the Americas and Oceania have done. On the other hand, because naturism is still in its pre-organized stage here, that has meant that we have had a lack of news and a shortage of information.
Therefore, we feel the need that a more general and expansive approach might be needed to naturism in Asia. We could go beyond reporting on small events in naturism in this region without dropping the theme altogether. In other words, offer a mix of Asian naturist news with more general information and thoughts.
The new blog, potentially with a new name, should come to light some time in October 2010. We are also thinking about a related Twitter service and a higher frequency of posts, but that all depends on a variety of factors which have to become clearer over the next few weeks.
In any event, we'll be back, see you in October and enjoy the rest of a naturist-friendly September.

World Congress of Naturists (2)

The opening of the International Naturist Federation's 32nd World Congress at the Calabrian camping of Pizzo Greco is just hours away.

Asianaturist will not be there, but we thought it interesting to see what kind of topics such a congress discusses. Apart from obvious elections of top officials and changes in the rules which only member organizations care about, there will also be a series of roundtable discussions hosted by members of the Italian naturist federation, Fenait.

Most of the topics feature the relationship between naturism on the one hand, and ecologism or "non-naturist" nudity on the other hand. Since naturism was founded a long time ago mainly as a health movement, and as a movement of going back to nature amid rapid industrial development, it is only normal for naturism today to reflect on its relationship with the new version of that concern, now titled of course ecologism or environmentalism.

The first roundtable at Pizzo Greco deals with naturism and vegetarianism. Fenait magazine Info Naturista says the group will not take a stance in favor of against vegetarianism, it will only elaborate on the links of naturism with the food movement. Personally, I don't think there should be a link. Naturism and vegetarianism are two separate ideas, and can be linked by individuals, but should become automatic or compulsory. A naturist movement that insists on vegetarianism will lose a lot of support without gaining much on the other side.

A second roundtable deals with the wider conflict between what Fenait calls "ethical naturism" and commercial naturism. The former was the idea of the founding members of the movement: going to live in the middle of nature, in what people today still call "naturist camps," with a simple lifestyle in harmony with nature. The latter is the form of naturism that dominates today: the operation of large or at least comfortable naturist resorts, where one can enjoy all the comforts of modern society, such as buffet lunches, large swimming pools, sauna, supermarket, Internet connections. The discussion will also emphasize ethical naturism as a lifestyle, i.e. it means naturism and nudity is not something just for the holidays, it continues back at home, away from the resorts. The discussion will seek an answer to the question of what today's naturists want the most. One of the topics to come up is the falling numbers of members in naturist associations: people go on holiday to resorts and hotels, but do not join associations that would allow them to live the naturist life outside of the holidays. In that light, the difference between naturists and nudists will also be discussed, with the latter being seen as more superficial, just being nude without any further philosophical dimension.

Naturism and ecology is the theme of the third roundtable. The link is logical, since the early naturists emphasized respect for nature, flora and fauna, in particular at naturist club areas. The discussion also wants to bring the naturist movement closer to the environmentalist movement.

A final roundtable handles the different perceptions of naturism and being nude in the eyes of men and women. Recruiting enough women to naturism has always been a problem. Often the male partner will first join out of interest, the female partner will be either inimical or indifferent, and only make her move later. The purpose of the roundtable, Fenait says, is to provide arguments against those in Italy and elsewhere who think naturism is not suitable for men, women and children.

Since the World Congress starts today, I expect to report more and also to find reports in the international media I can refer to in my next postings. Too bad I can't be there myself.

World Congress of Naturists (1)

Once every two years the International Naturist Federation holds a World Congress. While you could assume this is the equivalent to football's World Cup or to the Olympics, it is actually a gathering, not so much of rank-and-file naturists, but of national-level naturist organizations from all over the world.
After past congresses in Croatia and Brazil, the INF chose Italy for its 32nd World Congress. From September 8 through 12, the delegates will meet at Pizzo Greco, a camping village with a nice beach near Isola di Capo Rizzuto in Calabria, the southwestern part of Italy. While Italy is close to the European heartland of naturism, the country is actually one of the least naturism-friendly ones if you compare the number of naturist resort and free naturist beaches to neighboring countries like France, Croatia, or even Spain and Greece. The presence of the INF World Congress is supposed to help change that situation.
What happens at INF World Congresses? The movement has its own sports events, so the congress is not really to be compared with the World Cup or the Olympics. Representatives of the national naturist groups will sit down and discuss topics relevant to the current situation of international naturism, as well as put forward motions that can be accepted or rejected by votes during the congress.
Topics which will the subjects of roundtable discussions at this weekend's congress include the relationship between naturism and vegetarianism, the conflict between ethical naturism and commercial naturism, naturism and ecology, and the differences in naturist experiences by men and by women.
It will be worthwhile following the coverage of the event by the international media as well as the latest news from the congress itself.
Over the next week, Asianaturist will report more about the issues at stake and about the event. The relevant web sites are:
http://www.ifn-fni.org
http://www.fenait.org for the Italian Naturist Federation;
http://www.pizzogreco.com for the location.

The World Heatwave

37 degrees Celsius in Taipei. 41 in Seville. 38 in Moscow. It's the world heatwave, so what do you do to fight the heat? Stay out of the sun is one solution, though in places like Taiwan, that doesn't help you much. The heat in the shade is as intense as in the sunlight.
The only other obvious method is: take your clothes off.
Even one of the most authoritative newspapers in the world, the New York Times, noticed the possibility of that solution. Writer Sloane Crosley noted the rising popularity of more public nudity in a heatwave, but concluded it would only last one summer. He also contrasted conservative dress codes in the United States to a more liberal approach in Europe. I imagine that Europe is so used to cold temperatures, that any sunshine feels like summer and therefore should be enjoyed to its fullest.
Read the New York Times article here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/01/opinion/01crosley.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=eight%20million%20bodies%20in%20the%20naked%20city&st=cse
While we're browsing the U.S. media, Fox has the reputation of being an arch-conservative media company, in other words, they are the last place you would expect to mention naturism and put it in a positive light. The article linked below gives tips to someone visiting a nude beach for the first time, and they're very useful, in particular for readers from parts of the world, like Asia, where naturist beaches are virtually non-existent.
Read, enjoy and learn:
http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2010/07/19/hit-nude-beach/
Our former Celebrity Naturist of the Year, U.S. actress Eva Mendes, gives an interview to W Magazine, in which she also briefly touches on issues relating to nudity, if not naturism.
Read the full interview here:
http://www.wmagazine.com/celebrities/2010/07/eva_mendes?mbid=synd_foxnews
In close, we promise you not to be too long in bringing our next post here. Why? The International Naturist Federation is holding its once-every-two-years world congress next month in Italy, and we already have some information about the topics. Come back here soon for an introduction.

Naturism at Travel Fairs and the INF World Congress

While we're on the subject of Italy, let's continue with a look at edition 45 of the Italian Naturist Association FENAIT's Info Naturista magazine.

Featuring prominently of course is the fact that for the first time ever, Italy will be the host of the International Naturist Federation INF-FNI's once-every-two-years World Congress. The magazine also reports on Italian naturists' participation in travel fairs, mostly in the Netherlands and Belgium.

The 32nd INF World Congress takes place from September 8 thru 12 at Pizzo Greco, a naturist camping resort near the town of Isola di Capo Rizzuto, in Calabria. For those of you who see Italy as a boot, then Calabria is the tip pointing toward Sicily in the far Southwest. Each Congress sees representatives from dozens of countries traveling to the destination to meet and discuss the promotion of international naturism. In 2004, Taiwan was represented at Valalta in Croatia. Info Naturista also hopes this year's event will receive a lot of attention in the Italian media. Theme of the congress is Ethical Naturism and Commercial Naturism, in other words the ever-present tension between large-scale resort ventures and small-scale, ecologically friendly campsites in forests and other remote tourism.

Talking about the ethical side, this issue of the magazine also features a report on a ecology-friendly naturist campsite in Montenegro across the Adriatic from Italy, and has a letter from a reader claiming a carnivorous nudist cannot be regarded as a true naturist, in other words, naturists should be vegetarians.

Turning to tourism fairs, in most European countries it is completely natural to have naturist resorts or associations holding a stand for their business. The magazine of course mentions Naturisme Totaal in the Dutch town of Utrecht last year, which was a travel fair completely devoted to naturism. 9,000 visitors in two days last December, the magazine reports, making sure that there will be a sequel in December 2010. The Italians were represented by four stands, each for a separate naturist resort. They were also present at the main travel fair - where most visitors might never have heard of naturism - in January this year, while Belgian naturist resorts helped distribute Italian promotion material at the travel fairs in Antwerp and Brussels.

Info Naturista again mentions the great fact that young Italians have formed a naturist association of their own, the GIN, with its own blog at http://gin.fenait.org. In addition, there are comments about the piece "Diary of a Smoker" by U.S. author David Sedaris about a first encounter with naturism. Local associations complete the magazine with reports about their winter activities, which even in Mediterranean Italy mean mostly sauna meetings safely indoors.

For a change, next time, we'll go back to Asia for a post about new associations promoting naturism in countries until now off the naturist world map. Hopefully, in the near future, they too can join the INF and be present at its World Congress.

Legal Progress in Italy

Italy seems to be making progress with legislation allowing naturism, but first let's turn to other topics in the latest edition of Info Naturista, the magazine of the Italian Naturist Federation Fenait which I receive on a regular basis. From the travails of our Italian friends, we can learn a lot about how naturism in Asia might evolve.

In his foreword, chairman Gianfranco Ribolzi mentions the year 2009 as the year of 'keeping afloat' because there was only a slight increase in membership.

However, in another article we read that worldwide, about 25 million people practice naturism, i.e. non-sexual public nudity such as swimming and sunbathing naked. So if you are in a naturism-unfriendly country in Asia, don't think you are just part of a small minority. 25 million people are already with you.

The International Naturist Federation has awarded its first world quality certificate for a naturist resort, and it went to Valalta in Rovinj, a picturesque town in the far north of Croatia, close to Slovenia and Italy. I had the pleasure of staying there back in 2004. The certificate system will be expanded to include all of Europe within the next three years.

Back in Italy, the biggest event concerning naturists has been the formation of a youth group, the Giovani Italiani Naturisti or GIN, putting to rest the often American perception that naturists are all elderly people. The group addresses naturists between the ages of 16 and 30 and will take part in a European naturist youth meet in Hamburg this year.

On the topic of legal progress, Gino Palumbo writes a report in the magazine about the different legislative proposals to allow naturism in Italy. One version wants to hide naturism too much in places "where non-naturists and children cannot see them." In fact, despite this formulation, many naturists I saw on beaches in Western Europe and at Valalta and Croatia are in fact young couples with children, and like parents everywhere, they should have the right to spend their holidays with their children, naked or not. Other problems with the new legislation include a possible bias in favor of large commercial resort operations, versus the free beaches without amenities and the small campings often run by grassroots naturists.

Palumbo also emphasizes the economic benefits of naturism. Each summer, Italian naturists hold an "exodus" to Croatia in the East and Corsica in the West to find naturist beaches and resorts, he says, and many North-European naturists just avoid Italy altogether and spend their Euros in other countries. The author points out rightly that Italy would be foolish to turn those tourists away, just like it would catastrophical if it didn't want tourists visit its churches and castles. Italy will make a fool of itself if it sends the police on to the beaches to persecute innocent naturists, he says.

One of Palumbo's suggestions is that each municipality with beaches should set aside a minimum of 5 or 10 percent of its coastline - along seas, lakes or rivers - to naturism. The measure should not only apply to beaches, but also to parks or other areas suitable for naturism, with naturist associations involved in the management of those areas.

The magazine further also mentions that a new naturist association for the Venice area saw an increase in membership of 56 percent - though it does not mention how many people that actually means - and that the group has been active in organizing sauna and dinner meetings.

As usual, the magazine concludes with a non-naturist tourism report - a visit to the ornate Stupinigi hunting lodge near Turin.

Over the next few weeks, I hope to be reporting on this blog about the next edition of Info Naturista, and more importantly, about new naturist associations in Asian countries.

Real Naturist of the Year 2008: Pan Ying-hua

Taiwanese writer Pan Ying-hua is the Real Naturist of the Year 2008 for publishing the book “Nude: Ten Years of Conversations with my Body” about the naturist lifestyle amid the restrictions of Taiwanese laws and society.
The book features numerous pictures of Pan and her friends enjoying the naturist lifestyle in the natural setting of their home region of Taitung in Southeastern Taiwan, a sparsely populated area known for its quiet and beautiful coastlines and mountains in a polluted and noisy country.
While not widely available in book stores across Taiwan, the book has received uncharacteristically positive media exposure. Even its many pictures are not designed to titillate, but work to show the naturalness of the naturist lifestyle.
More trailblazers like Pan are needed to give the naturist movement stronger roots in Asia, roots from which a healthier attitude toward natural, non-sexual nudity can grow, and a true naturist movement can arise. The publication of a book like Pan's gives hope that Asian countries like Taiwan will also once host naturist beaches, naturist resorts, and movements that can take part in international organizations like the International Naturist Federation.
You can find Pan's writings in Mandarin Chinese at her blog www.wretch.cc/blog/ibubunu.

Naturist World Congress 2008

The International Naturist Federation holds its world congress once every two years, and this year it was the rare occasion that the organization ventured outside of Europe, to Brazil, for its 31st gathering.

The event took place in September at Tambaba in Conde, Paraiba State, in Northeastern Brazil, and is reported on in the latest edition of the Italian naturist magazine Info Naturista.

The passage that interests me, and would rejoice naturists all over the world and particularly in Asia, is that the congress was not a very hidden affair. Brazil's Minister of Tourism was present at the opening, there was a huge fireworks display, and a concert with 24 guitarists. Can you imagine that happening at a naturist congress in Asia? Too bad I can't. Yet. The event was apparently also sponsored by the Brazilian government, which no doubt wisely understood that this was a great opportunity to promote tourism. At a time when the global economy is going down, every event counts, and the naturist dollar must be one of the strongest new currencies in world tourism.

The INF congress elected a new chairperson, yes chairperson, because for the first time since its foundation in 1951, the world naturism organization will be led by a woman, Sieglinde Ivo, former INF Youth Department chief and former head of the Austrian naturists. She will lead the INF at least until the next election, in 2012.

Other decisions of the congress, according to Info Naturista, are:

-keeping a closer watch on legal developments relating to naturism in Europe, particularly with the European Union authorities and the European Parliament;

-developing the http://www.inf-fni.org/ website;

-the abolition of direct membership by individuals with the INF and the return to sole membership for national naturist federations;

-holding the next INF World Congress in September 2010 at the naturist camping village of Pizzo Greco in Italy, more specifically in its southwestern region of Calabria.

You can find the next world congress site at http://www.pizzogreco.com/. A Brazilian naturist resort featured in the Italian magazine Info Naturista is http://www.praiadopinho.com.br/. And the Italian magazine, which also has some articles translated into English or French, is at http://www.infonaturista.org/.

Coming Up: Asianaturist will soon select its Naturist of the Year.