A future for Soi Pratuchai?

[Oliver]

The huge numbers of Thai guys who came to Pattaya and Bangkok twenty/thirtyvyears ago came because of dire circumstances at home. An issue often neglected is that of family-size. Thailand had an effective birth-control programme (still has?) and the younger children in large families were particularly vulnerable. Hence their desire to move to urban centres and make money, much of which returned to their parents. With smaller families, the need is not so great.

[cdnmatt]

nice post Oliver. I think there's a few other variables at play too.

- Thais have become more modernized / Westernized, so family loyalty isn't quite what it once was. still very strong, but not quite as much as decades ago.

- Many will disagree with me, but middle class here has expanded greatly over the last 15 or so years. All that Gdp growth Thailand has enjoyed -- some of it has trickled down to even somchai selling somtam in the village. Hence, there's not as much of a need to prostitute yourself.

- probably most importantly, the stereotype of the farang has changed quite a bit over the decades. I would imagine back in say the vietnam war era, the stereotype was farangs were generally GIs who were young, healthy, good looking, had a pocket full of cash, and all the ambition in the world. Nowdays, I think it's changed into more of a 65yo fat, alcoholic guy living on a small pension, and wears a wife beater every day. Hence, ambition to rush down to Pattaya to get hitched with a farang has waned a little.

- Another one is the media in this country. They love to chastise foreigners for anything and everything wrong, and I'm uncertain if that was the case 30 or 40 years ago.

[fountainhall]

I would imagine back in say the vietnam war era, the stereotype was farangs were generally GIs who were young, healthy, good looking, had a pocket full of cash, and all the ambition in the world. Nowdays, I think it's changed into more of a 65yo fat, alcoholic guy living on a small pension, and wears a wife beater every day. Hence, ambition to rush down to Pattaya to get hitched with a farang has waned a little.

Interesting points in the last 2 posts. I'm not quite so sure about the Vietnam War, though, as it ended in 1973. I expect some of the GIs may have been after boys, but whilst girlie go-go bars had certainly started to sprout up, there were few if any gay go-go bars by then. Even in 1980 Bangkok had less than a handful. But the western clientele during the 1980s and 90s was certainly a lot younger on average than in more recent years.

[fountainhall]

I would imagine back in say the vietnam war era, the stereotype was farangs were generally GIs who were young, healthy, good looking, had a pocket full of cash, and all the ambition in the world. Nowdays, I think it's changed into more of a 65yo fat, alcoholic guy living on a small pension, and wears a wife beater every day. Hence, ambition to rush down to Pattaya to get hitched with a farang has waned a little.

Interesting points in the last 2 posts. I'm not quite so sure about the Vietnam War, though, as it ended in 1975. I expect some of the GIs may have been after boys, but whilst girlie go-go bars had certainly started to sprout up, there were few if any gay go-go bars by then. Even in 1980 Bangkok had less than a handful and I'm not sure if there was even one gogo bar in Pattaya - just a few host-type bars (but I am not sure of this). But the western clientele during the 1980s and 90s was certainly a lot younger on average than in more recent years.

[bobsaigon2]

Without reference to the GI's who used Thailand for R&R: Thirty or forty years ago (my first arrival was in 1972), most of the foreigners coming to Thailand for an extended stay were teachers, advisers, engineers, researchers, in short, people who were needed, people who could be utilized to improve the country in some way. Thus, farang were treated respectfully simply because they could be employed either for the greater good, or for the good of particular Thais. Then came the backpackers and no one felt compelled to give them much respect. And then, thanks to reduced air fares and to Thailand's growing reputation as the sex capital of SE Asia, there came a rather large percentage of foreigners who had not the slightest notion of contributing to the betterment of Thai society. So the Thai media chastise farang now because they are no longer "untouchable" (and because some deserve it), or simply because the Thai media don't have the freedom to chastise khon Thai. IMHO

[Manforallseasons]

Without reference to the GI's who used Thailand for R&R: Thirty or forty years ago (my first arrival was in 1972), most of the foreigners coming to Thailand for an extended stay were teachers, advisers, engineers, researchers, in short, people who were needed, people who could be utilized to improve the country in some way. Thus, farang were treated respectfully simply because they could be employed either for the greater good, or for the good of particular Thais. Then came the backpackers and no one felt compelled to give them much respect. And then, thanks to reduced air fares and to Thailand's growing reputation as the sex capital of SE Asia, there came a rather large percentage of foreigners who had not the slightest notion of contributing to the betterment of Thai society. So the Thai media chastise farang now because they are no longer "untouchable" (and because some deserve it), or simply because the Thai media don't have the freedom to chastise khon Thai. IMHO

This might be the most intuitive post about farangs in Thailand that I've read to date.

[AsDaRa]

Thirty or forty years ago (my first arrival was in 1972)

My God, I was born in 1972. So you already visit Thailand for 44 years. Life has been kind to you, very kind.
I hope life awards me so many decades of sex tourism also. I am however afraid it will already end for me in my 3rd year (if I loose my job, which is not that unlikely to happen in one of the coming years).

[latintopxxx]

AsDaRa...why so negatively fatalistic???
And am afraid that I have to disagree with all u armchair specialists....again as mentioned earlier all one has to do is log onto one of the numerous hook up apps to receive multiple invites on a daily basis. BKK/Pattaya is awash with whores peddling their wares...dont judge the commercial sex scene by the state of the bars....business model has evolved..MB has cut out the public humiliation of having to parade around in public shaking his booty to attract customers...has also cut out the middle man...BKK/Pattaya is still the place to be if one is a committed sex tourist. Definitely more bang for ones buck.

[BonTong]

- Many will disagree with me, but middle class here has expanded greatly over the last 15 or so years. All that Gdp growth Thailand has enjoyed -- some of it has trickled down to even somchai selling somtam in the village. Hence, there's not as much of a need to prostitute yourself.

Absolutely agree!

- Another one is the media in this country. They love to chastise foreigners for anything and everything wrong, and I'm uncertain if that was the case 30 or 40 years ago.

The media has an enormous role - people are now much better informed than 15 years ago. Back then, out in the countryside many houses hardly had electricity, let alone TV sets. Now, even in remote villages TVs and satellite dishes are everywhere and many people have smart phones. Although the education system here may be lacking, people now have other sources of knowledge, from social media to Thai soaps. Older foreigners being seen together with young Thais (of either gender) is now viewed as somewhat distasteful. Especially when the latest raid on a girlie bar is broadcast live on TV!

[fountainhall]

My God, I was born in 1972. So you already visit Thailand for 44 years. Life has been kind to you, very kind.
I hope life awards me so many decades of sex tourism also.

I have to agree with Latin that too often your outlook is too negative. Life is a great deal brighter and more fascinating when you banish those thoughts and be much more positive about the future.

I can recall some time around 1987 when I became similarly negative. AIDS had started to take its toll in Thailand and it was announced in the Hong Kong media that bar owners here were talking about banning guys from Hong Kong because more cases had developed there (where I worked). Gay sauna owners in Japan were also on the point of banning non-Japanese in the belief that this would prevent AIDS from spreading (a forlorn hope as AIDS was already taking its deadly toll). Selfishly I thought my sex life would all but come to an end - and I was younger then than you now.

As things turned out the Thai bar owners did not ban anyone, although the Japanese saunas remained closed to foreigners for many years. And there was still lots of gay sex to be found almost everywhere in Asia, even in Singapore and Malaysia where it was - and remains - technically illegal. So my concerns were totally unfounded. But if you are worried about the future of your sex life, please be very, very thankful you never had to live through those dreadful early years of AIDS when infection meant death.