Asian Gay History and Western Influences 3

Anything and everything about gay life anywhere in the world, especially Asia, other than Thailand.
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fountainhall

Asian Gay History and Western Influences 3

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This was the third of the articles. Much can be skipped as it was intended for those with not much understanding of Thailand.

Thailand – Contrasts and Contradictions

Thailand is a land of contrasts, nowhere more obvious than when it comes to sex.

Centuries ago it was the custom for men and woman to walk about almost totally nude apart from a small covering around the genitals. As late as the 1880s an American visitor was “shocked almost beyond endurance at the nudity of the people,” adding ominously, “Not until Siam is clothed need she expect a place among the respectable, civilized nations.” Even in the early years of the 20th century it was perfectly common for women to walk around Bangkok topless. Polygamy was also widely practiced. Another visitor around this time, a British school inspector J. G. D, Campbell, was horrified at Thai men’s sexual behaviour. He put it down to the climate.
“In the hot regions of the earth sensual indulgence is far more prevalent!”
Nice one, Mr. Campbell!

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Chao Phraya river photographed by John Thomson in 1865: copyright Wellcome Foundation

According to wikipedia, today there is a general feeling among Thais that “prostitution has always been, and will always be a part of the social fabric of Thailand.” For centuries, Thai male teenagers visiting female prostitutes for a first experience of sex has been more or less a rite of passage.” In 1989 the Thai Ministry of Health estimated that 4.2 million men visited commercial sex workers. Goodness knows what the number is today!

As far as sex between men is concerned, unlike China and Japan there appear to be few western accounts of homosexuality in old Siam. Yet it certainly existed. One of the country’s most famous scandals concerned the Supreme Patriarch named Sadet who in 1819 was discovered to be regularly enjoying the sexual favours of some of his handsome disciples. Homosexuality amongst members of the court was certainly documented. Len-Sawat was the old term for homosexuality among male court members. One famous case is the story of a courtier named Hmom Kraisorn and his alleged intimacy with another male courtier who was also a palace performer.

As we have noted, it was the excesses of heterosexual sex that caused much unease amongst early western visitors. It may be difficult to accept that the labels homosexual, bisexual, and heterosexual are Western concepts and do not exactly fit traditional social terminology in Thailand. Some Thai euphemisms obliquely make reference to homosexuality, such as “playing with friends”, and these references go well back beyond the last millennium. But as far as I am aware, until the last century there were no Thai words with the meaning “gay”, “homosexual” or “sexual orientation”. So it was in reality nearly 500 years after the start of those dick cover-ups in Europe that it finally dawned on Thais that they needed to conform more to western customs. Although sodomy was decriminalised in 1956, Thailand’s own covering-up had started.

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Guardians of Thai Morality?

As Thailand transitioned from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy, so older and more flexible understandings of sexual orientation and gender identity were replaced with more western concepts as one of the tools implanted by the state to establish social order. The 1960s even witnessed a period of “outing” gay men, lesbians and katoeys (often considered as ladyboys but more accurately as a transgender male to female), mostly through sensationalist media coverage. The purpose was to humiliate individuals and show they were unfit members of Thai society. This negative homophobia can still be experienced amongst some of today’s older generation.

Thus, while it may not seem so to visitors, general attitudes amongst Thais have always been conflicting and complex, wavering between gay Thai men being in part stigmatised and in part tolerated.

Like many countries, prostitution in Thailand is illegal! Those boys getting their first sexual experience with hookers are technically breaking the law. Similarly when you visit a go-go bar and take that boy of your dreams off for a good time, you are technically not permitted to agree a fee in advance. What you tip at the end remains just that: a tip, not a payment for sexual services. Such is one of the niceties of Thai logic. Of course, everyone knows precisely what is happening, but Thais have a habit of turning a blind eye when it suits them, the more so when significant amounts of “tea money” are paid to permit the trade to continue. It is this double standard between what is socially acceptable and what is legally not acceptable that has helped create a thriving commercial sex trade.

When you visit Thailand it’s not really important to understand there are essentially two standards: one for Thais and one for tourists, for you will rarely if ever see behind the veil of Thai morality. But it is important to realise that the openly available commercial sex tourism industry is a relatively new phenomenon. It developed and mushroomed during the Vietnam War. Pattaya was then just a sleepy seaside village with few western influences. When U-Tapao south of Pattaya was turned into a major US base for B52s flying bombing missions into nearby Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, Pattaya and Bangkok soon welcomed vast numbers of servicemen. Officially these were R&R (rest and recreation) breaks. The GIs themselves preferred the term “I&I” – “intercourse and intoxication!”

Obviously this trade in sex and booze resulted in a major source of income for parts of the Thai economy. When the war ended, some entrepreneurs sought to protect that income by replacing it with income from the tourists who were now starting to come to Thailand in greater numbers, their wallets bulging. At first it was booze and girlie bars. It soon expanded into booze and boy bars. By the end of the millennium one source reckons this new sex tourism brought the country US$4 billion per year.

Whilst most of us consider Thailand one of the most gay-friendly countries, we often fail to grasp that there are further contradictions in Thai society. Consider these examples. In 2011 three young Thai girls were arrested on Silom Road for dancing bare-breasted during the annual Songkran celebrations. As everyone knows, this is a time when people are out on the streets celebrating wildly. The Ministry of Culture criticized the girls’ behaviour as being unbecoming to the image of Thailand. It was then discovered the opening page of the Ministry’s website featured a painting of three Thai girls – nude from the waist up! Immediately this was taken down, but not before one bright spark had captured a screen shot.

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Then there is a recent poll taken amongst 15 to 24 year olds. This found that 56% believed homosexuality to be wrong. Yet one of the most common genres in Thai movies and TV series aimed at the younger generation features burgeoning love interests between schoolboys and male students! This video covers a number of releases dating back a few years –



Another example is gay tourism. The Tourism Authority of Thailand has a website aimed specifically at LGBT travellers. “Go Thai, Be Free”. Clearly gay tourism should not be tied to sex tourism. Yet since 2001 government ministers have attacked the whole business of sex-related tourism in the country, notably the Social Order campaigns of the now-exiled Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Opinion polls found the restrictions these placed on night-time entertainment were popular with most Thais.

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Six years ago the present Tourism Minister even announced the government intends to abolish the sex industry. “Tourists don’t come to Thailand for sex,” she claimed. “They come for our beautiful culture. We want Thailand to be about quality tourism. We want the sex industry gone.” So gay tourists only visit for the beaches? Yet, how do you promote gay tourism without having at least some night-time entertainment specifically geared towards gay men? Such contradictions all somehow fit Thai logic!

For those who remember Thailand in its gay heyday of the 1980s and 90s, it’s clear the whole gay scene is slowly evolving away from go-go bars, not a few of which have closed for good, especially in the Sunee Plaza district of Pattaya. How much really results from the desire of the government and elite Thais to finally rid themselves of the sex tourism appellation and how much to the rapid increase in social networking sites with the consequent ease of meeting similarly minded guys, is very hard to say. One thing is sure, though. Despite the popular image, Thailand remains a very conservative society. Ladies may have walked around topless 100 years ago. Today that goes “against Thai culture”. Missionaries may not have caused as much damage as in China and Japan, but encroaching western views on morality certainly have. For now, the country remains a haven for gay tourists. For how much longer? Who knows?
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