Thailand betting on dramatic "boys' love" tourism boom: FEATURE

[webfact]

Fans gather in front of a booth promoting Thai "boys' love" dramas at the "Mini Thai Festival" in Osaka on June 5, 2022. (Kyodo)

 

By Genki Ito, KYODO NEWS

 

Thailand has begun a campaign to attract international tourists, and especially Japanese travelers, using the popularity of homegrown productions of "boys' love," or BL dramas, as a drawcard.

 

At the "Mini Thai Festival" held in Osaka in early June, two booths were set up by video distributors in the "Thai BL" corner, dragging throngs of people away from street food stalls and an exhibition of the combat sport Muay Thai. The Tourism Authority of Thailand, or TAT, handed out pamphlets on Thai BL.

 

Known in Thailand as "Y series" -- a reference to the Japanese "yaoi" fiction that features homoerotic relationships between male characters and provided the inspiration for BL dramas -- the productions were once looked upon with prejudice but have gained acceptance due to their potential to function as a cultural export.

 

"My heart flutters when I see these scenes of handsome actors falling in love with each other," Keiko Kobayashi, a 58-year-old who works in Osaka and met with friends to drink Thai beer at the festival, said.

 

Full story: https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2022/06/b80956bb7d10-feature-thailand-betting-on-dramatic-boys-love-tourism-boom.html

 

- © Copyright Kyodo News 2022-06-30

 

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[OneMoreFarang]

Shouldn't that be in the gay section of this forum? 

[herfiehandbag]

Girl Guides goose-stepping, and now middle aged beer drinking Japanese matrons (at least I presume "Keiko" is a female) hearts a fluttering over homoerotic TV drama stars!

 

This place just gets weirder...

[proton]

Boy on boy manga is a massive female interest in Japan so they might be on to something

[jonclark]

37 minutes ago, proton said:

Boy on boy manga is a massive female interest in Japan so they might be on to something

I bet girl on girl manga is a massive male interest as well.

[Longwood50]

57 minutes ago, webfact said:

Known in Thailand as "Y series" -- a reference to the Japanese "yaoi" fiction that features homoerotic relationships between male characters and provided the inspiration for BL dramas -- the productions were once looked upon with prejudice but have gained acceptance due to their potential to function as a cultural export.

Well this should sure coincide with the governments stated objective of attracting the "wealthy tourist"   I am sure there will be charter flights from Monaco to handle the expected surge. 

[proton]

Land of the rising sons!

 

[Suvarnbhum]

Pronouns tourism coming next!!

[BKKTRAVELER]

It's a very big market in Asia, they are right to promote it.

[RichardColeman]

3 hours ago, proton said:

Boy on boy manga is a massive female interest in Japan so they might be on to something

I collect a bit of manga toys, I can confirm that the manga toys out there on facebook market in Thailand already leave very little to the imagination!

[Caldera]

4 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Shouldn't that be in the gay section of this forum? 

I guess so. It does sound pretty gay.

[Enoon]

5 hours ago, jonclark said:

I bet girl on girl manga is a massive male interest as well.

All sorts of interesting stuff in the Japanese tradition of erotic graphic art:

 

 

 

Edited June 30, 2022 by Enoon

[vandeventer]

6 hours ago, jonclark said:

I bet girl on girl manga is a massive male interest as well.

Plus don't forget the Japanese robots as Japan's population might be going backwards.

https://www.oksexdoll.com/artificial-sex-doll-aki-japanese-style.html

[placnx]

39 minutes ago, Enoon said:

All sorts of interesting stuff in the Japanese tradition of erotic graphic art:

 

 

 

Around 1970 in Kyoto I invited friends at New Years to go with me to a burlesque theater, Omiya Gekijo. It was quite surprising. Barrels of sake at the entrance to help yourself... get in the mood! The audience had a lot of old men, notably in the front row. The performers ended up squating on the edge of the stage using ends of octopus tentacle to entertain themselves, as in the above wood cut. Near the end, an old man in the front row was inspecting the action at rather close range, enough so that the performer took off his glasses to rub them there! It was an interesting introduction to an aspect of Japanese culture that's not advertised. I couldn't help feeling embarrased as one friend was a Japanese Zen priest accompanied by his wife.

 

As for the Y-girls, it's not just Japan, though. And they might not be gay.

[Laughing Gravy]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

Thailand has begun a campaign to attract international tourists, and especially Japanese travelers, using the popularity of homegrown productions of "boys' love," or BL dramas, as a drawcard.

Well the TAT are notorious for coming up with the most outlandish rubbish you can ever here. I guess this is another gem.

6 million Japanese tourists coming next month for sure.

[jak2002003]

9 hours ago, Longwood50 said:

Well this should sure coincide with the governments stated objective of attracting the "wealthy tourist"   I am sure there will be charter flights from Monaco to handle the expected surge. 

Never heard of the 'pink pound'?

 

Personally I can't stand the Thai dramas soppy love stories, even as a gay guy. ????

[peter zwart]

You have to agree with me. Thailand is growing into a true paradise. Booz, Ganja, Bargirls, Gays, Lesbians, Transgenders and a low cost livelihood. A place for every human being that wants to enjoy life his, her or it way. And if its without aggression.........Paradise.
 

[Jingthing]

10 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Shouldn't that be in the gay section of this forum? 

No!

The audience is mostly straight females.

Have you lived in Asia long?

[Jingthing]

Check out the Filipino product. They do the most over the top melodrama.

 

 

[CharlieH]

A trolling post along with other posts responding to it have been removed.

 

15.  You will not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, age, religion, ethnicity, nationality, disability, medical history, marriage, civil partnership, pregnancy, maternity, paternity, gender identity, sexual orientation or any other irrelevant factor.

 

 

 

[TooMuchTime]

11 hours ago, BKKTRAVELER said:

It's a very big market in Asia, they are right to promote it.

Spotted a Frankfurt School graduate from the ol bolshevik Weimer republic

[emeraldruby]

6 hours ago, placnx said:

Around 1970 in Kyoto I invited friends at New Years to go with me to a burlesque theater, Omiya Gekijo. It was quite surprising. Barrels of sake at the entrance to help yourself... get in the mood! The audience had a lot of old men, notably in the front row. The performers ended up squating on the edge of the stage using ends of octopus tentacle to entertain themselves, as in the above wood cut. Near the end, an old man in the front row was inspecting the action at rather close range, enough so that the performer took off his glasses to rub them there! It was an interesting introduction to an aspect of Japanese culture that's not advertised. I couldn't help feeling embarrased as one friend was a Japanese Zen priest accompanied by his wife.

 

As for the Y-girls, it's not just Japan, though. And they might not be gay.

Good information from a well traveled, cosmopolitan person. Very rare on this forum.

[hotchilli]

21 hours ago, webfact said:

Known in Thailand as "Y series" -- a reference to the Japanese "yaoi" fiction that features homoerotic relationships between male characters and provided the inspiration for BL dramas -- the productions were once looked upon with prejudice but have gained acceptance due to their potential to function as a cultural export.

Anything for money... fastest thing to change minds.

this will be touted as soft power tomorrow.