Why are tourists crazy over Thailand's 'elephant pants'?

‘Elephant pants’ can often be found throughout Thailand’s capital Bangkok in shops and markets.

When in Thailand, you can spot a tourist from afar by the “elephant pants” they’re probably wearing. If you want to dress in a way that screams “I’m a foreign backpacker” at locals, there’s no better choice.

Fashion is in the eye of the beholder when it comes to elephant-patterned trousers.

Renato Moran from Peru bought his elephant pants during a visit to a royal palace in Thailand.

The so-called elephant pants are rarely worn by local Thais, but these light and breezy trousers can be found in abundance in tourist areas such as along the pubs and hostels of Bangkok’s Khaosan road, once made famous by the 2000 film The Beach starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

There, they’re a phenomenon worn by a near majority of tourists during the day, when they are sold on the sides of the street for as little as 150 baht each (RM20) each.

Shopkeeper Sawat Daengurai said he has been selling clothes on Khaosan road for about a decade, however. Sales only started picking up when he began to sell the elephant pants around three years ago.

“I used to sell tank tops here but the elephant pants are more popular, ” he said. “I started selling them later than everyone else.”

Marissa Arranz, 50, from Spain said she has been to Thailand three times and has never failed to buy a pair on each visit. “They’re really comfortable to wear. They feel so fresh, ” she said.

The wild patterns on the trousers resemble the designs of stitches that can be found in apparel made by hill tribe villagers. But the elephants that intersect the patterns mark the trousers with a distinguished Thai identity.

The cheap, wide and light trousers with elephant patterns are hugely popular with tourists in South-East Asia.

Elephants are the official national animal for Thailand and are deeply rooted in its culture and literature. The animal once featured prominently on the national flag.

“Foreigners like the pants because when they see the elephants they think of Thailand, ” says Mantana Kernkangpu, a 44-year-old merchant of elephant pants at MBK shopping centre in Bangkok, another major tourist destination for its cheap products.

Although the trousers may look Thai, Mantana said “I wouldn’t wear them myself. I’m too old. They’re not my style.”

Cultural scientist Adam Geczy from the University of Sydney says the elephant pants have a clear resemblance to harem pants from the early 20th century.

“However, there is a hippie edge to them which we would now call hipster, ” Geczy said.

“These are not pants for the gentleman’s club, ” says men’s grooming expert Bernhard Roetzel, author of the Gentleman’s Guide To Grooming And Style.

“Whoever wears them doesn’t want to go there at all.” — Caroline Bock and Kaweewit Kaewjinda/dpa