Glbt Acceptance In Thailand

[mikederson]

I wrote a piece on GLBT acceptance in Thailand for the gay American blog Queerty. It is part of a theme on Boundaries and is supposed to highlight what I perceived as an informal-formal divide over GLBT acceptance in Thailand (i.e., there is a very sizable queer population in Thailand that is seemingly accepted, yet there is little demand for discussion of things like gay marriage and nondiscrimination policies). You can access the article on Queerty by clicking on "The Boundaries Issue," but I also would like to post portions of it here, both to propel the issue forward and hear what others think and know.

I wrote this as an outsider and it was meant for a foreign audience. I don't know what actually goes on in the Thai GLBT community; I can only give a view from my observances, research and some friendly interviews. Therefore, I am happy to know what other people think or their views.

-------

Thai society distinguishes between public identity and sexuality. Public identity is something proper and to be kept in check (riab roi is the term in Thai, I believe), while sexuality remains unchecked - and subsequently unarticulated. A Thai man can sleep with whomever he wants, but his sexuality is not likely to be broached: not by his family, politicians, media, public forums, or even by himself. There is no "coming out," which I was surprised to learn since I obsessed for months before telling my family. Here, it seems to be a non-issue; family members eventually "get the idea."

For a country with such a large and evident GLBT population, Thailand has little gay rights movement. There is little formal public discussion of homosexuality, despite the fact that it still carries a dangerous stigma (it was only taken off the list of mental diseases a couple of years ago). If they come out, gay men and women face discrimination at home and at work, where there are no anti-discrimination laws in place, and are banned from military service. Also, considering gay men face a frighteningly high HIV rate of 28%, there's the erroneous fear of contagion. People do not seem to hope to bring up the issue of gay marriage in politics or public discourse. In fact, the closest any Southeast Asian country seems to have come was in Cambodia when King Father Sihanouk posted on his blog that he admired Gavin Newsom's directive legalizing gay marriage in San Francisco and that Cambodia should do the same.

Yet to an unknowing visitor, Thailand seems like a gay paradise. Bangkok's legendary nightlife is home to over sixty gay clubs and bars and 20 gay saunas (but who's counting?), most of which double as meeting places for prostitutes and their johns. Visitors mostly frequent the nightlife strip on Silom, where most of the seedy clubs popular amongst tourists gyrate until about 2AM. Visitors tend to see this omnipresence of nightlife, the sex industry, effeminate men and kathoeys and conclude Thailand must be queer wonderland. And to suppressed, old, unattractive gay men from America, it may very well be. But these men are not precluded from the prudent judgment of a Thai society that turns its noses up at them; they're just oblivious to it.

I think sexuality in contemporary Thailand has a lot to owe to the sex tourism industry. There's an unmistakable cause and effect relationship and both probably flared up at the same time, burgeoning in the 70's when American GI's from Vietnam came to Thailand for their R&R missions, the industry continued to grow on both sides of the fence, breeding armies of "money boys," who now work the bars and clubs along Silom looking to pick up clients. Money boys and their sexuality were generally accepted by Thai society as 'an appropriate job for the poor.' And for a while, they made up the only prominent (or visible) gay population in Thailand. More recently, however, there's a gay middle-class making waves: a relatively new and growing population of masculine men in gay relationships. Some of these men see kathoeys and money boys as an embarrassment and dislike the association they've created among homosexuality, femininity and prostitution.

These developments could mark a turning point for GLBTs in Thailand. If Thai queers recognize that they they deserve full acceptance, it may be within reach. But don't press America's gay movement on people here. It will backfire. Strong emotions are embarrassing in Thailand, and adopting the West's aggressive pro-gay movement would be considered bad-mannered and backwards. Varayut Milintajinda, an openly gay Thai actor, probably offered the best advice to Thailand's LGBT community when he said: "Everybody loves good people. So, be good people. Do some good work for society, and society will accept our lifestyles."

It's no "We're Here, We're Queer", but it's certainly a good suggestion.

[endure]

Oh please! We don't want western ways imported into Thailand. Keep your activism at home.

[endure]

I wrote a piece on GLBT acceptance in Thailand for the gay American blog Queerty. It is part of a theme on Boundaries and is supposed to highlight what I perceived as an informal-formal divide over GLBT acceptance in Thailand (i.e., there is a very sizable queer population in Thailand that is seemingly accepted, yet there is little demand for discussion of things like gay marriage and nondiscrimination policies). You can access the article on Queerty by clicking on "The Boundaries Issue," but I also would like to post portions of it here, both to propel the issue forward and hear what others think and know.

I wrote this as an outsider and it was meant for a foreign audience. I don't know what actually goes on in the Thai GLBT community; I can only give a view from my observances, research and some friendly interviews. Therefore, I am happy to know what other people think or their views.

-------

In other words you've written a piece of flimflam to tickle the prejudices of your intended audience and you have no idea how the Thai gay world works outside the confines of Bangkok.

[ProThaiExpat]

I think the OP article was intended to be an accurate appraisal of Thai gays and their place in Thai society and frankly, I doubt any foreigner, even those of us who have lived here for many years, can write authoritatively on the subject.

However, if one approaches the subject as a sociologist and writes ones opinions of his observations of gays in Thailand, a foreigner does have a legitimate basis.

Since I am not Thai, I can only post my observations of Thai gays that I have encountered or lived with and their "stories" about Thai gay life.

Fundamental to an understanding of gays in Thailand is that Thailand is a Buddhist country, not a Chriatian/Judian one. IMHO, from this basis flows much of Thai society's attitudes toward gays.

Without a religious or "moral" edict that homosexuality is an "abomination", Thai society has none of the societal "taboos" that many western countries have, that are based on Christianity. Thus, Thai straight men can and do have sex with gays without it becomming an issue or damaging their self image. The OP article certainly got it right regarding the privacy in which such acts occur and the ho hum attitude of family to such transgressions, if in fact that word is appropriate, since it isn't thought of that way.

Since there is not a "religious right" in Thailand, except perhaps for missionaries from western countries, there is no political or societal repression of gays that engender a "rights" movement.

Certainly, gays are much better integrated in Thai society than in the west, although that is poor terminology as it suggests that gays were ever other than part of the fabric of Thai society.

Materialism flourishes in Thailand, as it does in the west, but to a greater degree, IMHO and thus a poor gay is subject to a great deal more discrimination than a rich one, the gay part of the discrimination is far less potent than the economic one. The last paragraph of the OP quote of the gay actor is "spot on".

Shocking to the westerner, but not to Thais, is the ability of a straight man, who is the head of a household with a wife and children to support, to be a gay sex worker without any damage to self image. If he suffers discrimination in Thai society it is far more likely to be a result of his lack of education, the fact he is a farm boy or of lower economic employment, not because he is selling his body.

Discrimination is all pervasive in all societies. The need for people to discriminate in society is another issue entirely, suffice to say Thais discriminate, but their priority list of discriminations does not put gays nearly as high on the list as in the west, due in my opinion, to their Buddhist culture.

If and when the westernization of Thailand approaches its zenith, overt discrimination against gay may occur as it does in the west and a "rights" movement might become strong, but by that time, perhaps, the western countries will have reached an accomodation with gays regarding equal rights, as a few have so far and then it will be a non-issue in Thailand, as it is now.

[noctiluca]

Very good essay, mikederson. Oh, and you too, ProThaiExpat. I also like what you quoted from Varayut. It is so true here.