Increasingly Gay Self-Representations of Male-Male Sexual Experiences in Thailand

Abstract

With Thailand's economic development, urbanization (especially the rapid growth of Bangkok), growing contact between Thais and non-Thais, an increased availability of representations of ho-mogender homosexuality (i.e., masculine men being sexually penetrated), and international AIDS discourse, male homosexuality not structured by differences in age, gender or class has become more apparent. Three sets of stories and letters sent by Thai men to Thai gay magazines show a decline in a gender-stratified conception and enactment of homosexuality in Thailand, paralleling the heterogender-to-gay transformation of homosexuality elsewhere in the world. The highly developed commercial venues for males who have sex with males in Bangkok are little mentioned in these texts and suggest the need for the development of other kinds of community infrastructure such as telephone advice lines (providing information about the basic mechanics of safe sex and other aspects of male-male relationships). Males who have sex with males in Bangkok, in particular, need a community center in which to discuss issues of power, gender, and sexuality.