June 18, 2006
Female sex tourism in Thailand
Here's an interesting item, Just a holiday romance, in Pattaya Today, a newspaper for the resort town in east Thailand. Author Bea McConnell asks:
Word on the street has it that middle-aged women will flock to Jamaica and the Gambia in their hundreds in search of what they much prefer to call a holiday romance.
Yes, this is really happening. It's not just word on the street, and I have explored this phenomenon in Jamaica, the Gambia, and many other places, in Romance on the Road.
Here's something I didn't know:
It also appears that Chinese women are getting in on the act, although they do not favour the African or Afro-Caribbean types. They prefer to stay closer to home, and closer also to what they know and understand.Consequently, women from Hong Kong and Taiwan are holidaying in Beijing where they can purchase the attentions of a "duck" (or yazi) if they feel like a bit of company. Just imagine, you can shop till you drop all day as you buy new items for your wardrobe and a little something for the folks back home, and then in the evening you can buy yourself a sexy young drinking companion to talk to, flirt with and even take pleasure with later in the evening.
... Apparently Chinese women are also a bit picky and favour the men from Manchuria where they tend to be taller than the average oriental man.
The author then asks:
So where is all the action in Thailand? How come women aren’t flocking to the Land of Smiles for a little paid-for hanky panky in the sunshine?
I was a little surprised to read this, because I report in RotR that Western lesbian tourists indeed go to Pattaya itself, and that flocks of Japanese women (straight) visit Phuket, while Western women (straight) also visit Bangkok and Koh Samet.
I sent this e-mailed Letter to the Editor to Pattaya Today:
Dear Editor,Regarding the item, "Just a holiday romance?" (June 16), Bea McConville asks, "Where is all the action in Thailand? How come women aren’t flocking to the Land of Smiles for a little paid-for hanky panky in the sunshine? Why is there not a ‘scene’ here for women to dip into when they are in need of a little attention?"
Well, the answer is easy: The action in Thailand is in Phuket, Bangkok and Koh Samet, where tens of thousands of Japanese women visit Thai beach boys each year.
As I write in
Romance on the Road:
"No one wanted to look into the spike of female tourist arrivals on Phuket and figure out what was going on — except a lone Thai demographer. Sairudee Vorakitphokatorn discovered that
during the years 1990 to 1994, numbers of female Japanese visitors to Phuket soared from fewer than 4,000 to more than 40,000, and they began to outnumber male Japanese tourists. Beach boys reported that Japanese women, usually aged 18 to 27, comprised 70 percent of their clients."Vorakitphokatorn's findings provoked a storm in Japan, where women in fiercely protested the report.
Anthropologist Cleo Odzer also entered into affairs with Thai men in Bangkok and Koh Samet, and discussed other Western women "playgirls" as well. There are also reports of Western lesbians visiting Pattaya to consort with Thai women.
Sincerely,
Jeannette Belliveau
Beau Monde Press
Baltimore, Maryland USA
It's surprising a local publication doesn't know about female sex tourism in various locales in Thailand!
Update July 20, 2006: A female travel friend of mine reports active holiday romances between American women and Thai guys in Chiang Mai. One woman visited Chiang Mai as a result of friction with her Japanese husband, who she left at home.
This is significant in that it supports a viewpoint presented in RotR: That female sex tourism has expanded from beach resorts to a vast number of destinations, including mountainous regions such as Chiang Mai and Nepal.
- posted by jbelliveau at 1:03 PM in Love, Sex, Romance and Travel
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June 13, 2006
U.S. loss in the World Cup
Shortly before the United States started its game vs. the Czech Republic yesterday, I told Lamont, "I don't have a lot of confidence in this team."
What was my pessimism based on? A few stray wisps and tendrils and impressions:
- Anemic U.S. performances in friendlies leading up to the World Cup.
- Hearing that the Czech Republic was formidable.
- Even to an extent the Nike commercial featuring former French star Eric Cantona, where he says in fractured English, "America, the world no longer looks forward to playing you." Well, he speaks over highlight films of the U.S. playing, and while Landon Donovan is shown scoring various goals, he looks like a pixie. Granted, a very skilled pixie, but not one able to take on tall Central or Eastern European rivals.
Well, the United States got spanked 3-0 and looked dreadful. Watching the game, I said, "There's a lot of tall, skilled, fearsome, committed U.S. players, and they are all in the NBA."
An e-mail arrived from my friend Mark Moran in Thailand:
God, the carnage. We have NO offense. Brings me back to the 70's and 80's when I played and the US was a joke. Or maybe the Czech Republic is that good. Back to the drawing boards. Those guys were just on a whole other level.Italy? Geez. Someone get a gun and get it over with.
We need a playmaker/striker...
I replied, "YES why oh why didn't they take Taylor Twellman (Univ Md star who would at least have run and attacked ???)?" Now that I think about it, Freddy Adu might do better than the group we have over in Germany now.
Then I remembered, Lamont did a fantastic graphic for the Baltimore Sun showing how the U.S. had a height disadvantage against the Czechs. (See below.) No one else in the entire world of sports media correctly forecast this problem, as I can tell. Take a look:
On the field, it was dramatic to see how tiny the United States looked. It looked worse on TV than the graphic even depicts. DeMarcus Beasley, Donovan, Steve Cherundolo, Claudio Reyna, Bobby Convey -- tiny, tiny, tiny.
Mark Moran wrote me back:
Great graphic, and yes, the physical build was not a point lost on me as I perused the waiflike characters on our side. Beasley looks like he's 12 years old. I just don't understand how we can't yield at least one cocky bad ass striker out of the tens of thousands of kids playing little league in the US. That Eddie Johnson dude seemed like he was the only one who wanted a piece of the action. Let's rally around him and light a fire under his ass.You know, I think that until a great striker gets all the hype that football, basketball, and baseball premadonnas get, we'll forever field teams that perform like the current one.
Well, I'm going to watch now for a great upset somewhere in this tournament before the final game because Brazil is certain to win in the end. That Ronaldino guy was a marvel to watch the last time I saw him.
Supposedly U.S. Coach Bruce Arenas will shake up his lineup before Saturday's game vs. Italy (see the Washington Post, Changes Ahead for U.S. Team Lineup, Arena Says), but his comments don't sound very specific. I think he is as stunned as his players, and that's not good.
We need a little more Avery Johnson here. The Dallas Mavericks coach gets in front of the media after every game (even the blowouts) and announces, "We are not satisfied," and then makes some brilliant changes to nullify his opponent. U.S. soccer could use similar leadership -- and some NBA big bodies to boot.
- posted by jbelliveau at 5:57 PM in Sports
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