A Facebook post from a Thai clinic who performs a cosmetic penis whitening procedure has gone viral. The post currently has close to 20,000 shares and over 10,000 comments.
According to The Independent, this new laser treatment is done by a clinic in Thailand called the Lelux hospital.
The hospital started offering penis whitening when a patient came in wanted to bleach a dark spot on his penis. Since that first patient, they claim that 100 men a month, aged 22 to 25, have come in and gotten it done. The manager for the skin and laser department at the hospital told The Independent that the procedure is a very delicate one since it targets a very sensitive part of the body. An article in The South China Morning Post reports that the hospital claims that many of the men who request skin whitening from the hospital are members of Thailand’s LGBTQ community.
This isn’t the first unconventional beauty treatment that Lelux hospital has grabbed the headlines for. They started offering a 3D vagina procedure where women can implant fat into their vulvas to create a plumper appearance. The 3D vagina costs $1,500 while the penis whitening treatment costs $650 per five sessions.
Skin whitening is a big deal in Thailand.
fist class skin whitening treatment our services are available in india, Malaysia , Thailand and Indonesia Contact us : 939441981 pic.twitter.com/XNWWqxGQjq
— Human Heal (@humanhealhyd) August 7, 2017
There are lots of creams and lotions available that promise to bleach brown skin. But the quest for light skin can be dangerous as it can expose customers to chemicals that aren’t meant for human skin. As The Guardian reports, The Thai Food and Drug Administration once investigated a company that offered a skin bleaching product with salmon sperm in it. Another company produces a skin-lightening soap that contains chlorine.
Despite the apparent popularity of penis whitening, there seems to be some pushback against skin-bleaching from segments of Thai society. A Thai skincare company named Seoul Secret got lots of backlash after it produced a television ad which showed a popular fair-skinned actress and singer named Cris Horwang’s skin turning black. In the ad, Horwang said that she owes her success to her pale skin. Seoul Secret publicly apologized for the ad and removed it from the airwaves.
Is #Thailand ‘s Skin Whitening Craze Coming To An End? https://t.co/tHfH5bfPFk pic.twitter.com/Q56s8q4un1
— What’s On Sukhumvit (@WOSBangkok) March 6, 2017