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Snazzy or silly, APEC couture costs a pretty penny

When Asian-Pacific leaders smiled for the cameras yesterday in specially tailored Thai silk shirts, they were decked out well beyond the means of most people they represent.

The leaders wore the hand-crafted shirts at the ornate Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall, where they held summit talks of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

The shirts, valued at about 90,000 baht (US$2,200) each, were made by weavers and tailors in a village in northeast Thailand, the country's poorest region.

It took one month for five people working on a loom to create three meters of the special fabric.

It would take much, much longer for the average person in one of the Asia Pacific economies to get one for themselves.

Most Thais couldn't buy one even if they worked for an entire year and saved every penny -- the nation's average annual income is the equivalent of US$1,960. It's about the same situation for Filipinos, Chinese, Russians and Peruvians, also citizens of Asia-Pacific economies.

Others would have to put in an even greater investment to get the shirt.

A typical Indonesian would have to work more than three years. A citizen of Papua New Guinea would have to work more than four. A Vietnamese, who earns about US$35 a month, would have to work more than five years.

The richest citizens of APEC nations -- Americans and Japanese -- would have to work for more than three weeks.

A few walked a bit stiffly, but most of the APEC leaders appeared chipper and relaxed in their shirts as they arrived at the throne hall.

"Oh yes, I'm very happy with it," Australian Prime Minister John Howard was overheard saying about his shirt as he chatted with other leaders at the throne hall.

US President George W. Bush held up an arm to compare his shirt with that of another leader. Twice more he looked at the sleeves as he chatted about the shirt.

But somebody apparently forgot to tell Russian President Vladimir Putin that you're supposed to button the shirt all the way to the neck. He forgot the top button, so looked a bit brash and rumpled as he sauntered up the red-carpeted steps of the hall. Thais who watched the spectacle on television pointed and laughed.
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