Business Travel Newbie - what to pack for SE Asia in July?
June 26, 2018 4:22 AM Subscribe
I will be travelling for conferences, presentations and workshops this July in Hong Kong, Singapore, Jakarta, Penang and Kuala Lumpur.
I will be leading many of the sessions. I am a pasty male Londoner who sweats. I need to wear suit and tie for the events - air-con status of various venues unknown. I am prepared to buy a new lightweight suit, and I have been told that linen would be an error in view of the crinkle effect. Can any experienced business travelers with knowledge of the area in July please give me some tips? I have one month to shop.
I will be leading many of the sessions. I am a pasty male Londoner who sweats. I need to wear suit and tie for the events - air-con status of various venues unknown. I am prepared to buy a new lightweight suit, and I have been told that linen would be an error in view of the crinkle effect. Can any experienced business travelers with knowledge of the area in July please give me some tips? I have one month to shop.
Best answer: Hi. I'm a pasty white male who travels to ASEAN for work a bit. I just got back from BKK, DEL, and BOM last week. I've been to all of the cites you've listed ex-Penang in the last six months. I'm meeting with c-suite level folks from the largest publicly traded companies.
I would tell you that HK and SIN will be quite well air conditioned and you will be fine in tropical weight wools or fresco weight sportcoats. Other areas the AC will be on and functioning, but the room temps might be around 25c (Japan is usually 27c, which is tough)
I'd also tell you that you can probably get away with not wearing a tie - especially in Malaysia & Indonesia.
It will be miserable out, but especially in Jakarta, KL and Penang you'l go from car to meeting, so its not as bad as you suspect. If you are expected to take public transport in SIN and HK be prepared for sweat. The real advice is to make sure you have reasonable clothing for when you are off duty.
posted by JPD at 6:37 AM on June 26, 2018 [1 favorite]
I would tell you that HK and SIN will be quite well air conditioned and you will be fine in tropical weight wools or fresco weight sportcoats. Other areas the AC will be on and functioning, but the room temps might be around 25c (Japan is usually 27c, which is tough)
I'd also tell you that you can probably get away with not wearing a tie - especially in Malaysia & Indonesia.
It will be miserable out, but especially in Jakarta, KL and Penang you'l go from car to meeting, so its not as bad as you suspect. If you are expected to take public transport in SIN and HK be prepared for sweat. The real advice is to make sure you have reasonable clothing for when you are off duty.
posted by JPD at 6:37 AM on June 26, 2018 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I found the prices for uniqlo in London same as Singapore, and it's probably similar for HK. I would get the suits and pack lightly then go into a Uniqlo or similar chain for basic shirts and socks etc that were fine, if you have an entire month to go around. Aircon is basically 22-24 degrees all over. You'll have to deal with the heat more in evenings when you're going out. If the aircon wasn't working at a conference center, everyone would be suffering not just a visiting traveller in heavier clothes.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 4:28 PM on June 26, 2018
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 4:28 PM on June 26, 2018
Response by poster: Light wool suit was the answer. Carefully folded as per YouTube tutorials which was not perfect but reasonably effective (clever suit jacket fold - inside out, one inverted shoulder). Local business lunch in non-air conditioned restaurant in Jakarta and hours in hot taxis pushed everything to the limit. I have been advised to press the suit professionally when I get back to the uk but to avoid any dry cleaning unless there are stains (rapidly ages them I am told). Total suit newbie here. Thank you.
posted by Hugobaron at 3:59 AM on August 3, 2018
posted by Hugobaron at 3:59 AM on August 3, 2018
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posted by TWinbrook8 at 6:29 AM on June 26, 2018