Before having spent time in Thailand I had formed a fairly righteous-simplistic view of Sex Tourism. One where Sleazy Men from developed countries exploit the poverty-vulnerability of South East Asian Women (a global variation of cash for clunkers.)
Like so many contentious issues, things are never that black and white.
Thailand has become a Prime Destination-magnet for sexual tourism, an industry which has grown exponentially since the days of the Vietnam War when Bangkok was a notorious R&R bordello for American military personal.
The GIs – soldiers have long been replaced by a cavalcade of Multi Cultural Punters.
A true representation of the United Nations prop up the barstools of Girlie Bars blanketing the length and breath of the Land of Smiles.
Japanese Salary Men, Middle Eastern Merchants and a kaleidoscope of Westerners are equally intoxicated by scantily clad Thai women soliciting passing foot traffic with “Hello Sir Welcome” .
An effective social lubricant which crosses cultural and linguistic barriers on any given night. And one which unofficially contributes considerably to the country’s GDP and coffers. Officially, Sex Tourism doesn’t make it into- get a mention Government fiscal figures. But one could reasonably argue that official Trade Envoys and their brief case yielding bureaucrats are relatively impotent ambassadors in furthering cultural- financial exchanges when compared to a Thai Temptress on the make…Tourism is a vital artery of Thailand’s economy. It makes a bigger contribution to its economy in comparison to that of any other Asian nation.
North East Thailand consists mainly of relatively undeveloped agrarian communities.
Many a rice farmer’s daughter has abandoned contributing to the harvesting of her family’s rice fields in favour of Tourism – Sex Work.They’ve long discovered that the right foreign boyfriend- husband is a better yielding cash crop…and nowhere near as tempestuous as varying weather patterns.
Snaring a Falang (foreigner) is fair game in the battle of the sexes.
Countless Thai women are lured- attracted into sex work or the ancillary tourist service industries with a view of finding a foreign boyfriend- husband. Who they view as ‘rich’ and potentially better providers than their co nationals. This all too often misconception having bamboozled many a retiring European postal clerk on his annual vacation to Thailand……. “ Hello sir, you come Thailand how many people ? You have wife- Thai girlfriend ? Me like big falang man.”
Families in the rural region of Issan in north east Thailand dispatch daughters off to the tourist hot spots of Pattaya and Phuket in full knowledge of what type of work their daughters will most probably- inevitably find. The potential payoff overrides whatever moral reservations they might harbour.
The houses some of the more successful women build in their villages alongside the trappings they flaunt on visits back home – jewellery, motor scooters and cars tempt the younger women to try their luck as well.
The uneducated have the option of staying behind working in rice fields and most probably end up marrying a cock fighting gambling misogynist boozer or trying their luck pursuing foreigners.
Thais are keen gamblers and countless young women take the punt. And with just over 20 million foreign tourists a year visiting The Land of Smiles, they’ve got some healthy numbers to play with.
Eager to cash in on this segment of the tourist traffic in the region. Neighbouring Cambodia has also developed a Sex Tourism industry modelled on the Thai model, albeit on a smaller scale.Whereas Laos has taken measures to legislate and curtail the far reaching tentacles of Sex Tourism tainting the daughters of Laos.
http://www.tooraktimes.com.au/content.php/1796-Sex-Tourism-No-in-Laos
Laid Back in Laos
For countless Thai women, bettering herself and her family’s economic situation by snaring a foreign man is considered both socially acceptable and desirable. This was best highlighted to me after visiting a massage shop in Chiang Mai where I’d had a very professional massage by a demure and modestly dressed middle aged woman.
It was then suggested-recommended by the manager that I return the following day for the woman’s daughter to massage me. The daughter turned out to be a scantily clad young woman wearing a mini skirt whose area of speciality appeared to be ‘stroking the inner thigh’. Her massaging technique was nothing like her mother’s massage the previous day.
I later learned that the manager-owner of the shop was the older woman’s younger sister. The business and her lifestyle had been financed by a European gentleman of some means. The unmarried young woman was undoubtedly trying to follow her aunt’s success. The aunt and mother were ‘complicit ’in having tried to set her up with me.
I later saw her in an Internet Café chatting away on several dating sites.
She blushed when I noticed that she had several windows open- copying and pasting messages to various foreign men. You’ve Got To Be in it to Win it ! http://www.tooraktimes.com.au/conten…ale-Thai-Style
There are occasional sex tourists and then there are inveterate Sex Tourists.
Jason, an electrical engineer from Texas falls into the later category.
I met this inoffensive looking 40 something geek in a bar.
He told me that he’d been on a mission to clock up- have sex with 10,000 women.
And true to the thoroughness of his profession and disposition he meticulously documented his performance-conquests. He wore a Helmet Cam while on the job.He filmed himself having sex and then uploaded videos onto the net. When I questioned his Goal, moreover the unrealistic – excessively high target he had set himself.
He calmly responded with, “ I started off thinking I could manage three different woman per day. That’s 21 per week, which equates to over 1000 a year. But then I had the dilemma of whether I counted repeats. I couldn’t help myself, returning to women that I liked.”
Jason never got to reach his goal. He ended up marrying one of his repeats – a Thai Temptress of considerable charm he assured me !
Sex Tourism slots comfortably into the machinations of a Global Economy.
One where men from developed countries seek companionship-sex from women who live in countries where they have limited economic opportunities.
So these women exchange – barter with the only thing they have to offer.
A highly prized commodity – their femininity and sexuality.
Fabrizio Marsani
fmarsani@yahoo.com.au
WebRep
