The majority of people here are dark skinned to varying degrees and 90% of people have black hair. They sell products in all the chemists to promise to lighten their skin and the products sell very well.
We, as white Australians are actually the odd ones out. We took our children to Kuala Lumpur on one trip and our daughter said she felt very uncomfortable because she felt like she was the odd one out, funny thing is that it hadn't occurred to me until she mentioned it, everyone really just seems to fit in. We have since taken our daughter to Singapore and she is still raving about it, she enjoyed it so much and she has forgotten all about her initial nervousness.
These countrie's economies rely heavily on tourist income and are frequented by people from all over the World. They are really multicultural places. It is often the locals who say they are being mistreated because of a preference to deal with tourists. This is because the staff and shop owners think that it is the foreigners that are more likely to tip well or spend well as they have the money. So it is not so much about the colour of your skin but your accent and purse.
If you have blonde hair or even blue eyes you are more likely to be starred at and made a fuss of.
The Russians and the Indians are not well liked by other tourists because of their behaviour. Unfortunately just yesterday morning we were sitting next to a couple and the husband had been burnt by a toaster because an Indian man had shoved/pushed him into it because he was in a hurry to fill his plate from the buffet.
I think it does make a difference as to the type of hotel you stay at and in some of these countries hygeine is an issue but the better hotels are more affordable anyway.