No Money, No Honey

[Guest Hedda]

I noticed in the latest commercial trailers pubished on PattayaGay and referenced here, comments about a thread which appeared on the Thaiboys website titled "No honey, no money." I went to the site and found the thread and comments quite entertaining.

 

The thread was apparently posted by Pan, the site moderator, with the premise that "not all Thai boys are money boys." Needless to say, no one who has ever set foot in Thailand knows that that premise to be true. It's like saying not all Brits are pompous fools, not all Germans are loud mouths, or not all Greeks come bearing gifts.

 

The basic statement, however, did not prevent a host of posters, some of whom may well have never set foot in Thailand, or having landed here, have never been anywhere but Babylon or the nearby bars, from taking the opportunity to either extol all Thai boys as the paragons of the planet, or to excoriate them for choosing to make a living by selling their only real assets.

 

What I found unreal about the whole thread was the "all or nothing" nature of many comments. What began with the unassailable assertion that not all Thai men are hookers, quickly became an argument that not all hookers are in it for the money. Just what they are doing selling their bodies for profit remains a mystery, if you believe what you read in that thread.

 

Somehow, the whole thread reminded me of the golden age of Thai internet boards, when a few dizzy queens pretending to be a lot more posters, tried to convince gay men around the world that the Garden of Eden had been located somewhere in south Pattaya, that the fountain of youth was just past the second toilet at Jomtien Beach, and that anyone with other ideas was subversive.

 

They were the crowd that helped invent the notion that gay Thai men were unique in the world, in that they were hormonally adjusted to genuinely lust for old men of various sizes and shapes, rather than young men or women of their own age. It is a myth that many older farangs in love with love still seem genetically unable to resist, even when their bathroom mirrors scream otherwise at every chance they get.

 

Perhaps aging farangs are simply afraid to admit that growing old in a world obsessed with youth is not an easy journey. They know that it's a lie that life begins at 40, especially in gay bars where gray hair can be as fatal as too much booze. I][ve always wondered if straight men have the same challenges. Maybe we all have to face the reality that nature tries to compensates us for getting older and fatter by letting us get richer too.

 

In any event, I found the thread entertaining, even though it says nothing that's not been said before. Perhaps it's because the surviving posting boards dealing with Thailand, that I can read from here outside Thailand, beyond the Thai censors, have become so adolescent or incoherent that it's become novel to read something about gay lifein Siam that has three consecutive and coherent remarks.

 

It's also refreshing, in a peciliar sort of way, to see that even old men can still maintain delusions of their sexual attraction and prowess, that romance is always waiting in the next soi, and that Xaviera Hollander was a happy hooker, but true lover too. I can't wait to get back.

[khaolakguy]

Your mirror may well scream at you dear, you may well find yourself unattracrive! But unlike with girls, you may have noticed that guys have a very obvious indicator of their sexual arousal!

[Guest Hedda]

Khaolak, love, if you're suggesting that a stiffie on a young guy is an indicator of sexual attraction, as opposed to physical arousal, you might watch the chimps the next time you're at the zoo. Better yet, watch some of these young guys get bulges in their pants at the site of any mature and inviting ATM machine.

 

By the way, I never said that i consider myself unattractive. Old, yes. Ugly, no. In fact, my mirror and I have been on amicable term for years ... since it cracked. But that doesn't make me delusional into thinking that most of the young Thai men cruising for farangs in Thailand are filling their sexual appetites.

[khaolakguy]

But that doesn't make me delusional into thinking that most of the young Thai men cruising for farangs in Thailand are lfilling their sexual appetites.

 

I didn't say that either! I am sure most aren't "in lust". However, if you have a hardon you are aroused. QED.

 

As for watching chimps in a zoo, well whatever turns you on, but I suspect that the chimps are getting turned on by each other.

 

Turned on by an ATM machine. Well that doesn't do it for me either. I suppose that if you're in heat and rub yourself against all those buttons.

 

No I still can't see it.

[Guest mauRICE]

Somehow, the whole thread reminded me of the golden age of Thai internet boards, when a few dizzy queens pretending to be a lot more posters, tried to convince gay men around the world that the Garden of Eden had been located somewhere in south Pattaya, that the fountain of youth was just past the second toilet at Jomtien Beach, and that anyone with other ideas was subversive.

 

O precious, precious Hedda! I found the thread and have to concur that the analyses put forward was pedestrian at best. It is highly ironic that the Web master chose to start the thread on a site that singularly promotes a group of gay commercial sex venues in Bangkok. I did find one pithy post though that more or less corresponds with my own observations and reproduce it here. It was posted by Celt on 13 June 2006.

 

"My experience of Thailand and in other S.E. Asian countries, is that there is a greater number of so called "money boys" operating(18yrs to 30 yrs) becasue of their poverty and the poverty of their respective families. I can undertand their positon and desperate need for $. Older Farangs have the money and will gladly pay for the affectionate services of the young men.It is a mutual agreement that is made...and the boys and the older guys find the agreement just what they both need. It is somehat difficult to find a genuine, Thai guy who really likes the company and affection of mature men without "money" being part of the "dating". Most younger Thai guys will want the affections of guys their own age and maybe a bit older or a bit younger. Whether we like it or not, the majority of Thai guys who "date" mature, older guys do so for the money they earn from the "Farang... which goes to the boy's familes and themselves. It is a reality. Many older, mature guys find this OK. and set up a comfortable agreement with the Thai money boy as guide and/or companion. The young,educated, or working Thai who likes older gentlemen for their affection only ...and not money is quite rare. "

 

I'd like to add that the rare working professional who has genuine affection for an older farang is still looking for some kind of financial compensation. Why slog over a twenty-year mortgage for that swanky condo when you can have it now all signed and paid for? And guys in this category tend to be choosy. Vulgar wealth oozing from a foul-mouthed, greasy, gold chain-wearing farang is probably not going to impress them. Neither are they willing to perform the stereotype of the passive, grinning yokel who's secretly in lust with his aging landlord. Guys like these talk back because, horror of horrors, they are actually interested in what their partners have to say. To me, that is showing real respect. None of that "you think too much, you not Thai you no understand" BS which basically means that they have written you off and you serve no function in their lives and community other than a pecuniary one.