22 JANUARY 2005, Page 17

Slobs and snobs

From David Reade

Sir: Simon Heffer’s article (‘The slob culture’, 15 January) identifies a long-standing decline. I live in Bangkok, Thailand, and on Christmas Eve I was in the lobby of a five-star hotel where milling around were representatives from the Caucasian world dressed in subfuscous clothing, ancient jeans and T-shirts — the uniform of the Western world. Presumably most of these people were preparing to dine in five-star restaurants in the city or in the hotel, but they had not bothered or had not wished to change out of their poolside garb for the evening.

David Reade Bangkok, Thailand