I remember reading somewhere that the Thai authorities profile incoming tourists and refuse entry to those they think might be sex tourists - essentially any single male not there for business or without an invite.
One case where “shooting blanks” could be a good thing… 
You must be thinking of somewhere else.
well said.
I’m not romanticizing it, but if the people are generally happy and the rates are cheaper than the ones in the U.S. (not to mention the fact that it’s illegal and highly frowned upon here) it may still be sleazy, but it sounds a lot better than the prostitution in America.
I figured someone would interpret my analogy as comparing mortality/infection rates of the two. What I meant was, you could select a prostitute in Thailand (Bangkok?) and have a one in three chance of picking one with HIV. Whether or not you used protection or contracted any STDs wasn’t the point. The one in six odds of Russian Roulette was just the first thing that popped into my head* which had these odds.
- Get it?? Popped into my head?? Russian Roulette??
I knew that Singapore was strict about chewing-gum and all, but I had no idea that people had to take such extreme measures to get candy into Thailand.
Here’s the thing about Thailand: when they say 1/3 prostitutes, who has actually measured this and who is defining who is an who is not a “prostitute”? There’s an area of BKK refered to as Chinatown. I’ve heard tell of Thai brothels there and in other parts of the city. It’s very likely you’ll never find much less get into one of these places. Nor would most foreigners actually want to. There are also a lot of “massage places” on Ratchada road (and probably elsewhere). These cater primarily to upscale Chinese/Thai/Japanese (read as light skinned Asians). Americans/Europeans may or may not even be allowed in. These are relatively expensive by Thai standards and employ what locals would call the most beautiful girls. African (American or otherwise) and Indians are most likely not allowed in these places, for the most part. Then there are the the “farang” oriented GoGos and Bar Beers: Nana Plaza, Soi Cowboy, Patpong and maybe Washington Square Soi 22 and the “painter bars” on Soi 33. These are a mix of outright prostitution and semi-prostitution. You would probably consider most bargirls prostitutes, but they might not consider themselves prostitutes. The big racket here is that the girls find “boyfriends” there. Some, it’s clearly a business transaction (mostly in the GoGos). In most places it’s a sort of option if the girl likes the guy and wants to hook up, and maybe he’ll give her some money in the morning, maybe they’ll get married (seriously, but not necessarily immediately). Then there are the upscale places like Rivas, Spassos, Q-Bar, etc. Some of these are just exactly high class hang outs, sort of like pickup bars. Prostitutes don’t work there, that I know of, or if they do it’s like some of the beer bars and painter bars. But a girl might go in there looking to score an upscale boyfriend or sugar daddy, and some might look to make 5000-10,000 baht for the night (a huge amount for most Thais). Are these both prostitutes? Are they both included in those numbers? The line in Thailand can be very gray. Most prostitutes in the Netherlands would probably self-identify as prostitutes. Most prostitutes in Thailand probably don’t see it that way at all, although some surely do. There are very obvious prostitutes that work the streets of Sukhumvit road after dark (very, very risky, in a number of ways, IMO) and then there are women like the salesclerk in the very upscale mall where I bought an expensive gift for my parents: “You marry?” “Yes” (a little bit later) “Maybe you like go see movie wit me some time?” Very odd, but that’s what being (by their estimation) very rich in a foreign country can sometime do. I didn’t follow that up with her, so I don’t know exactly what she was looking for, but is she then a prostitute? She’s for sure after my money, not my looks or charm (ok, maybe), but would she be included in those statistics?
What about the famous Thai ladyboys? Shouldn’t a post-op transsexual be HIV free since the vagina is artificial? eewwww
Hey, a lot of guys really dig that… (not me)
True that. It’s fucking depressing to watch these “couples” walking down the beach. And you see it in lots of places, not just Pattaya. It’s enough to make you climb inside a bottle of BeerLao.
What’s really funny is that a lot of those couples are not so different in age as you’d think. It’s just that a 30 year old Thai woman can easily look 18 to us, and many 35 year old farangs look like they’re 45-55 years old. Especially if they’ve spent the past 5-10 years of their life drinking all night and chasing tail.
Fridae has some articles on Thailand’s sex-tourism reputation. (The linked page is work safe however many other links within the Fridae domain are not.) I don’t think you have to be a member to search through their news articles.
One danger that comes to mind is of what happens abroad may not necessarily stay abroad. I recall–vividly–a faxed letter sent to, yes, a pudgy, white, middle-aged, not particularly attractive, and married realtor in an office where I worked. The letter was from a young lady in Thailand who mused on their ‘relationship’ while he was visiting her country.
We discreetly put the fax into his mailslot, but not before reading it thoroughly–and taking turns being both giggly and appalled. Read it twice. Okay, maybe three times.
anecdote*
When I was in Thailand two summers ago, there was definitely sex tourism available and almost ubiquitous throughout the country (in various concentrations in different cities). What stuck me most was that a lot of girls/women who I talked to had an “OK man.” This fella, always white, would come to the country every so often and treat this woman as if they were dating (read: paying for hotels, meals, shopping, etc) -or- he would sometimes even pay for her to meet him on a business trip to another exotic location. Some of the women would admit that these farongs had wives, some of the others talked about an eventual marriage. What I took from this was that their situation left much to be desired and they were striving on false wishes and hopes of “a better life” that was being shown off by the farongs.
Since a lot of these transsexuals presumably have had quite a bit of receptive anal intercourse, no, they are not likely to be mostly HIV free.
My father lived in Singapore for many, many years and ended up marrying a Singaporean woman about 30 years younger than he. You might assume a lot, seeing them walking down the street. But the fact is that they have a lot in common and are well suited to each other. It’s a good marriage.
It’s not strictly relevent, but this article on child prostitution is facinating (and often sad) reading for anyone interested in the dynamics of the international sex industry.
It could have been a joke fax. Faxing embarrassing things isn’t exactly unheard of.
In any case, you should learn to MYOB.
Point taken: cross-generational relationships are a lot more common in Asia than in the west, and if I saw such a couple in Singapore/ Hong Kong/ Tokyo, I’d be much less likely to assume. When you see it in Phuket, though, it’s hard not to …