Underage

[Guest tdperhs]

A few weeks ago, while I was still in Pattaya, I attended a party at a bar. I met a young man whom I found interesting, but I wasn't really on the prowl that night. However, I bought him a drink so he could make a few baht. I do this a lot. He appeared to me to be about 19 or 20. In any case, I was determined to check out his age a little more fully if I ever decided to take him off.

While he sat with me, he told me he wanted to share a secret with me. The secret was that he was only 17. I asked him when he would be 18. He answered in April. I told him I might see him in May.

However, what I failed to realize at the time, to my shame and mortification, was that I had bought this man an alcoholic drink. It is my understanding that the minimum drinking age in Thailand is 21. But my paranoia about offing someone below the age of consent seems to have clouded my awareness of what might at least morally be called the lesser offense.

Now, I never actually offer to buy an alcoholic drink. I never ask, :"Would you like a Margarita or a Mai Tai or a beer?" I just say "a drink." But that does not get me off the hook legally. I know that in the past many of these men have ordered a cola or something like that. Perhaps they get a better commission. My point is that we have such in depth and lengthy discussions on the risks of offing under-age men but we never discuss what it means to buy them alcohol.

All of this begs the question, "If I am sitting in a bar with a man whom I have bought a beer for and a cop comes in, checks his ID, and determines the man is 20 years old, what is the likelihood I might get arrested for contributing to the delinquency of a minor?"

 

There is a second point for consideration here, too. Perhaps I am naive but it took me a while to wonder why he would ever share that secret with me. He made no secret of the fact that he wanted me to take him off. Then it dawned on me. I think he believed or heard that Farang have a preference for under-age men and that his secret gave him an edge with me.

 

Any comments?

[Gaybutton]

Any comments?

 

Just one. Most of the time when boys order a drink, it's a soft drink. From what I have been told, they get a 20 baht commission for a soft drink and get nothing for a hard drink or beer.

 

Also, I believe, but I am not sure, that the drinking age applies to customers, not to people working in the bar. As I said, I am not sure on this one, but it is my understanding that as long as a boy is at least 18 years old and is drinking as an employee of the bar, then no law is being violated.

 

That makes no sense at all, so that's why it's probably true. Nevertheless, perhaps someone who knows more about it can clarify it for us.

[Guest buaseng]

he told me he wanted to share a secret with me. The secret was that he was only 17. I asked him when he would be 18. He answered in April. I told him I might see him in May.

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There is a second point for consideration here, too. Perhaps I am naive but it took me a while to wonder why he would ever share that secret with me. He made no secret of the fact that he wanted me to take him off. Then it dawned on me. I think he believed or heard that Farang have a preference for under-age men and that his secret gave him an edge with me.

 

Any comments?

Seems to me that he was probably older than 17 and that he thought you would be more liable to off him if he said he was only 17.

 

Most everyone lies about their age - Thai boys to make themselve appear more 'offable' for the reason you outlined above - and farangs to make Thai boys think that the farang is likely to be more virile (I would hazard a guess that there are not many farangs on these boards who have not knocked years off their age when asked by a boy - I admit that I have.