Irrawaddy Journal, covering Burma and Southeast Asia, reports on male sex workers in Thailand. Quite interesting, and makes very plain the extraordinary vulnerabilities of these men, most of whom do not identify as gay and do not receive adequate HIV prevention services. Check it out.
Jim
--------------------
Why young Shan migrants enter Thailand’s sex scene
Amid a long strip of bars close to Chiang Mai’s bustling Night Bazaar is a small, neon-lit hangout where a group of western men sit surrounded by attentive Asian male youths. Some of the foreigners are being massaged by the young men, while others are chatting and laughing intimately with them.
Ton, a 25-year-old Thai man with an engaging smile, has owned this bar for a year. Though he is heterosexual, he runs a bar that is a prime pickup spot for male clients looking for sexual encounters with “bar boys.”
According to Ton, about 95 percent of male sex workers are heterosexual men
whose motivation is purely economic—a statistic confirmed by the NGO Mplus. Jay, who works as a host and cleaner at a bar across from Ton’s, is typical. A Shan from Burma, Jay has a boyish, angelic face that belies his 21 years. He used to be a favorite with the customers and, after chatting with him for a few minutes, it’s easy to understand his popularity: his good looks are complemented by the warmth and friendliness he exudes.
But Jay stopped going home with clients over a year ago. He is heterosexual and has had a serious girlfriend for the past 10 months. “I came to Chiang Mai from Shan State two years ago to look for work,” he says. “I used to go with the clients because I needed the money, but I stopped when I got a job as ‘captain’ because it’s not good. I didn’t like it. None of the boys who work here likes doing what he does—they just need the money.”
Read the rest.
No comments:
Post a Comment