Is being a gay expat (and/or gay retired expat) in Thailand really as great as the hype?

[susanlea]

1 hour ago, 1FinickyOne said:

But it is the fact that such an accepting countrywide culture, makes it not only possible but likely that a few port towns will welcome sailors of all stripes... no? 

Ladyboys work in remote locations too. You see them in shops working. Nobody cares.

[Jingthing]

2 minutes ago, susanlea said:

Ladyboys work in remote locations too. You see them in shops working. Nobody cares.

That's true. Nobody cares if they work in shops.

This topic is really about the gay expat experience in Thailand. Not so much the Thai experience. That's a different area of discussion. 

[susanlea]

Just now, Jingthing said:

That's true. Nobody cares if they work in shops.

This topic is really about the gay expat experience in Thailand. Not so much the Thai experience. That's a different area of discussion. 

Thais are less bigoted. Thats the message. White people need to improve.

[1FinickyOne]

16 hours ago, susanlea said:

Ladyboys work in remote locations too. You see them in shops working. Nobody cares.

Of course they do... I have been living in remote locations in Thailand for 25 years... 

[susanlea]

2 hours ago, 1FinickyOne said:

Of course they do... I have been living in remote locations in Thailand for 25 years... 

Why don't more gays do that? Less bigotry as there are less foreigners.

[Jingthing]

4 hours ago, susanlea said:

Why don't more gays do that? Less bigotry as there are less foreigners.

I think that's fairly obvious. Gay people universally and globally tend to gather in cities for social and often  survival reasons.

[orchis]

On 6/16/2024 at 2:01 PM, Jingthing said:

A bitcoin for your thoughts?

You first, should be interesting. 

[Jingthing]

9 minutes ago, orchis said:

You first, should be interesting. 

I seriously doubt that it would be.

I just started this as a discussion topic for entertainment purposes in response to the youtube video that I mentioned. 

But I can say I think a lot depends on where you live in Thailand. 

I live in an area where tourism is completely dominant and most Thais are not local but move here for the tourism economy.

So obviously the level.of corruption and seeing foreigners as walking ATMs would be particularly high in such places. 

That might be similarly true in similar tourism meccas Internationally but I think in Thailand even more so for cultural reasons.

Edited June 27 by Jingthing

[georgegeorgia]

On 6/17/2024 at 1:56 PM, n00dle said:

 

i dont see it as a uniquely gay dilemma, but rather universal

I guess now you outed yourself 

Edited June 27 by georgegeorgia

[SydneyExpat]

As a gay man in his 50s considering retiring in Thailand with my husband, I’m curious how easy is it to meet other gay expats in popular expat areas?

Edited July 3 by SydneyExpat
Grammar

[Oz82]

On 6/16/2024 at 2:01 PM, Jingthing said:

I think we know the hype.

For foreigners anyway, you won't have any problems being accepted for being gay. You'll likely have other problems but it won't be because you're gay.

For those so inclined there is the readily abundant commercial scene in the expat havens, as well as the apps.

So does that make Thailand a "paradise" for gay foreigners?

Perhaps not quite. 

At the end of the day, does the commercial thing corrupt the attitude of Thais making it very very hard for gay foreigners to have anything other than transactional relationships here whether explicit or covered up with face saving rationalizations?

I got this idea by watching a video from an American talking about best countries to move to for gay expats, and he was suggesting certain European countries are ultimately better than Thailand because the interactions could be more authentic and that Thailand was particularly extremely corrupted by the commercial thing.

A bitcoin for your thoughts?

I don't care much about relationships so the commercial thing isn't a concern. But what impresses me here is that I live in a small rural town and the school I work at is full of LGBT teachers foreign and Thai. And there's never been an issue. This would be pretty tough back in rural Australia. Bangkok may be similar to western cities for LGBT people but rural Thailand is definitely more tolerant than a lot of rural areas in western countries.