Why do many Thai men grow the nail of their little finger ?.
The long fingernail often seen on the little finger of the right hand (see photo below) of men in Thailand is another of those “Thai things” which is not really understood by outsiders. On seeing Thai men with long fingernails many people are quick to speculate that he is either gay or effeminate. So to answer the question, Thai men grow their fingernail long as an aid to prosperity, it is believed by many Thai men that if the tip of the little finger on the right hand extends past the third knuckle or joint of the ring finger you will be prosperous and able to save lots of money. As you can see in the photo (below), the tip of the little finger on this Thai mans right hand is actually below the third joint of the ring finger, to counter this and make up for the shortfall he has grown his fingernail so that it extends past the third joint / knuckle of the ring finger.
Another popular theory why Thai men grow their fingernail.
One of the most commonly held beliefs is that Thai men grow their little fingernail long as some sort of status symbol, signifying that they do not do manual labour or work in the fields. There may be an element of truth in this theory but I think this is more applicable to Chinese men.
Some more practical reasons why Thai men have a long fingernail.
- Digging hard to reach boogies from their nose.
- An aid to sexual stimulation.
- Picking food from their teeth, (taboo in Thailand, very rarely will you see it).
- extracting earwax.
- Scratching an eyebrow.
- Scratching the bum.
- Snorting cocaine.
Fingernail facts and trivia.
- American woman Lee Redmond was entered in the Guinness Book of Records in 2011 for having the worlds longest fingernails, measuring 28 feet, 4.5 inches in length.
- Ridges on you fingernails denote a nutrient deficiency.
- Your fingernail grow 3 times faster than you toenails.
- Nails grow faster in hot and humid countries.
- Nails grow faster during the daytime.
- Nails grow faster when you are ill with the flu.
- Dieting slows nail growth.