Thai Love & Sexuality
Floating Lotus are a Bangkok based publishing company specializing in Gay literature. Their books can be obtained through many bookstores or by ordering directly from their web site, just click on the banner above
Dear Uncle Go: Male Homosexuality in Thailand by Peter A Jackson Jackson's book is an ingenious analysis of a unique corpus of texts, and provides a series of insights into a society that must be explained if we are to understand the range of social organizations of homosexuality. To open such a discourse is no small accomplishment. Jackson deserves praise for his pioneering work. comments by Bjorn Andersson
Endangered
Relations: Negotiating Sex and AIDS in Thailand
by
Chris Lyttleton (Hardcover)
The author, Chris Lyttleton
, March 7, 2000
Comments on the back cover of Endangered Relations.
This book is about disease and culture. AIDS has become an increasingly
prominent symbol of modernity in Thailand, yet ways of dealing with HIV draw on
time-honoured understandings of fate and misfortune, disease and contagion,
gender and pollution. Endangered Relations provides a crucial analysis of how
public health manouevres to control the threat of HIV infection mesh with local
understandings of identity and sexuality, setting in place a broad range of
personal and social responses to the ongoing epidemic. An illuminating study of
the way in which Thai social relations, and in particular Thai sexualities,
shape the history of AIDS in Thailand, Endangered Relations offers a unique
perspective on the complicated ways that disease is negotiated in cultural,
political and human terms.
Genders and Sexualities in Modern Thailand by Peter A. Jackson(Editor), Nerida M. Cook (Editor) (Paperback - June 2000)
Gold
by the Inch
by
Lawrence Chua (Hardcover - March 1998)
Lawrence Chua has long been praised for his astute cultural commentary
and experimental prose. In his first novel, Gold by the Inch, he also
proves himself as a vibrant and breathtaking writer of literary prose. The
narrative follows a young gay man of Asian descent as he returns to Thailand
from the United States for an extended visit and to recover from his father's
death and a failed love affair. After becoming involved, well, obsessed, with a
young male prostitute, the narrator has to...
The
New York Times Book Review, Anderson Tepper
Though Chua's novel can be striking in shards ... ultimately the result
is too diffuse and stylized to provide a deeper reflection.
Petulant tale of sex
tourism and racial vengeance, December 3, 1999
Reviewer: A reader from Sunnyvale, CA
Even the self-hatred in this narrative is self-indulgent. The narrator
(/author?) loathes white gay men who find him attractive and enters into the
very hackneyed attempt to have a meaningful, loving relationship with a
prostitute. The narrator/author recognizes that to some extent he is a
privileged American, but does not notice that in Malaysia (and, to a lesser
extent, in Thailand) he is part of a quasi-colonial privileged Chinese elite.
Hello, My Big Big Honey! : Love Letters to Bangkok Bar Girls and Their Revealing Interviews By Dave Walker/Richard S. Ehrlich When I'm asked to cite references on the commercial sex scene in Thailand, this book always occupies the top of the list. No one says it as well as the women themselves, and I found these interviews to be very credible. The foreword, by a Thai academic, was also among the more enlightening essays I've read on this topic. Should be read by any male or female contemplating an entree into Thailand's "demi-monde"..comments by Bjorn Andersson
Lady Boys, Tom Boys, Rent Boys : Male and Female Homosexualities in Contemporary Thailand by Peter A. Jackson (Editor), Gerard Sullivan (Editor) (Paperback - June 1999)
Nerida M. Cook, PhD,
Lecturer in Sociology, Department of Sociology and Social Work, University of
Tasmania, Australia
"Brings to life the issues and problems of interpreting sexual and
gender identities in contemporary Thailand. . . . Provides challenges to the
applicability of models derived from Western gay, lesbian, and queer theories. .
. . An important corrective to the many misapprehensions that have arisen, both
within and outside Thailand, about non-normative sexual behaviors."
Eldon
L. Wegner, PhD, Professor of Sociology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu
"Demonstrates how negative stereotypes have pervaded the dominant
scholarship on sexual minorities in Thailand and caused barriers to needed
health education, counseling, and health services. . . . This book illustrates
how the cultural notions of family and community may be positive resources in
providing effective services."
Let the Good Times Roll : Prostitution and the U.S. Military in Asia Reviewer: "Chris Sanchez". Having worked for the US military throughout Asia, and having been to every area described in this book, I will concede that the authors DO accurately portray working conditions for the women described at the time the research was done. However, by the time the book was published (1992) US Subic Naval Base at Olongapo had closed, and Okinawa and Korea's upwardly mobile economy had drastically changed the night life district, making sexual services prohibitively expensive for most active duty US military. The effect is that whilst reading this book, one is thinking "OK, interesting to see how things WERE, but none of this is applicable today". If we're going to complain about GI's messing around with Asian bargirls in the late 80's/ early 90's, then heck while we're at it let's complain about them using French bordellos during World War I. Also tiresome is the underlying tone of "Look at these poor women and what the big bad US military is doing to them". As if the US is responsible for seedy bartowns in Asian countries. If all the base bartowns disappeared overnight, sure a few GI's might be disappointed, but you wouldn't see the Command structure demanding that they return. It's as simple as this guys, if you REALLY don't want the American GI's to buy something- then don't sell it! Sure, I know the girls are poor, and working as bargirls may be the only way to make money for some of them. But the single US soldier can't do anything about the economic stratification between his country and another's. And if you open up a bar next to a base full of 18-25 yr old GI's, well, what do you expect is going to happen?
The men of Thailand (6th Edition): Thailand's Culture & Gay Subculture by Eric G. Allyn This is the most praised guidebook for gay men ever published. Reviewers and users have praised its cultural sensitivity, its frankness, and insight. Includes an extensive discussion of Thailand's culture and its gay subculture, practical etiquette, plus resources and listings for 15 Thai cities. Each listing is in Thai script you can use to point-and-show to get around. Also includes maps for major locations with a gay scene. Considered essential for any gay visitor to the Land of Smiles. comments by Bjorn Andersson
Night Market : Sexual Cultures and the Thai Economic Miracle by Ryan Bishop, Lillian S. Robinson (Contributor) (Paperback - January 1998) Reviewer: "Charles M. Love" from Rock Springs, Wyoming USA I've been involved in and taught cultural anthropology for 27 years. I don't normally underline very much in a book, but after combing through this one I found I had made some 174 major underlinings, mostly critical. I also made 137 major separate notes in the margins and at the end of chapters, alas, also mostly critical. For those of you who do not wish to read the whole of this review, let me advise you to use this book only as a classic example of how not to do anthropological research and how not to write it, and to a certain extent, how not to publish it (the backing falls apart in less than two readings and you are ultimately treated to piles of pages).
An overblown effort,
December 1, 1999
Reviewer: CD
Brookins from San Diego, California
While the subject of this book is very interesting and deserves further study,
the authors were very pretensious. The book did offer some new insights into
Thai economics and how the tourism and prostituion industries interact, but one
gets the feeling the authors wanted to rail against the "Farangs" that
travel to the kingdom. Two items particularly irritated me. The first was how
the authors referenced documents from a navigator on Christopher Columbus' first
voyage to America to describe how foreigners feel about Thai prostitues. How a
document written about a voyage before there was a Thailand (or U.S.A. for that
matter) pertains to Bangkok massage parlors, I'll never know. The second
"documentation" concerned a Thai Air advertisement. The ad featured a
stewardess smiling at a white airline traveler. The authors try to convince the
reader that this is proof that Thai industries are actively promoting the sex
trade. If this is true, nearly every commercial on American television is an
active promotion of prostitution in the U.S. There is a need for a serious study
of the socio-economic impact of the sex trade in Thailand, but this is not it.
This is nothing more than a tirade against prostitution and the foreign
travelers who venture to Thailand. How prostitution destroys young Thais is
truly a sad story, but the authors should devote a little more effort in
researching their subject, rather than blindly grasping at obtuse concepts to
prove a predjudicial viewpoint.
Patpong
Sisters : An American Woman's View of the Bangkok Sex World by Cleo Odzer
From Book News, Inc.
,
May 1, 1995
Odzer offers a personal account of her three years in Thailand studying
prostitution in a Bangkok red light district catering to foreigners. She
interviews bar girls and bar boys, describes their families and lives outside of
the district, and reveals her romantic involvement with a Thai pimp. She
discusses AIDS and economic oppression of women in Thailand, and concludes that
some of the workers are intelligent and entrepreneurial. Includes b&w
photos. Lacks an index. Annotation copyright.
Odzer went to Bangkok to study prostitution for her anthropology
dissertation, but she comes across as anything but academic in this highly
personal, anecdotal account of her experiences in Patpong, the city's thriving
red-light district. Indeed, her findings confound expectations. The bar girls
Odzer managed to befriend were adept in turning sexual transactions into affairs
of the heart, making Western men feel responsible for them and, eventually,
their families. Compared to the village life...
SAVE YOUR MONEY, THE AUTHOR
ONLY TALKS OF HER THAI BOYFRIEND, October 13, 2000
Reviewer: doris from norfolk, VA United States
if you want a book dealing specifically with prostitution in thailand, how it is
done, and what the prostitutes do, and how they live, this book is not
informative enough. this book is a description of the time the author spent in
bangkok. more often than not, she does not interviewing prostitutes, and she
does not bring you into the lives of these slums. she sees the whole
prostitution business in a way that is rather naive. rather, as said before, she
spends a lot of time talking about her thai boyfriend and other non-relevant
things. she does give some important insight on thai prostitution and the white
men involved, but it is very little. read this book like you would a novel. i
wouldn't recommend you purchase it for research.
Good read, November 26,
1999
Reviewer: Miguel
Agullo from Hong Kong, China
All right, this might not be the most sophisticated study into Thailand's sex
industry. But who cares? First of, there are that many books that deal with that
subject in the first place, and this is one of the most enjoyable. It also
provides a lot of info on the way Thais understand life. OK, a big chunk of the
country is not involved in prostitution, but almost all seek "sabai
jai" - peace of mind - a term that I had not learnt about before reading
this book and that turns out to be invaluable when dealing with Thai people. And
there are plenty like it throughout the book.
I also found quite true the theory that prostitution is actually liberating and helps to break the old ways in which women are treated and looked upon in Thailand. I would never phatom paying for sex (maybe because I don't need to ), but after spending time in Thailand, I can tell you that the attitude of the prostitutes over there is a lot more sane (and a lot more understandable for a Western mind) than the attitude of the general female population, specially those ladies from the upper class who apparently live inside a fiction bubble. There is obviously a dark side to prostitution, but please check out the night scene at the Hard Rock Cafe in Bangkok and then tell me what's wrong with girls who just want to have fun (except for the pathetic crowd of old Western guys hanging out with girls that look like their daughters). Talk to their customers and see who is using who. If anything, this book will also help the would-be sexual tourist avoid getting in trouble (and you can bet the police is always going to be on the girl's side). Whoever disagrees with this theory are either fooling themselves, or more likely, have NO clue of Asian culture. As another reviewer pointed out, it is the Thai/Asian prostution the one that has the more scary edge to it. As the book explains, the underage slave brothels are all in the Bangkok Chinatown. This is not racism, this is simply true.
The Poison River by Steve Raymond, Mal Karman (Hardcover - January 1995)
Book Description
True story of an American businessman arrested in Thailand, falsely
accused of running an international sex tour ring, and imprisoned for two years
at the request of the US government.
About
the Author
California native, graduate of Sonoma State University, former president
and CEO of both a California based and a Thailand based tour company, former
executive of the Harvey Milk Lesbian and Gay Democratic Club, former hotel
General Manager and marketing and sales director for the Renoir Hotel, San
Francisco.
Disturbing and documented journal about American injustice, April 27,
1998 Reviewer: seanpar@efn.org from Ashland, Oregon, USA
Once I started reading this book, I couldn't put it down. I read it straight
through in eight hours and have read it several times since. It is the gripping
(and documented) true story of an American business executive falsely accused of
child abuse by a former college classmate. The accuser is John Cummings, a
convicted child molester who was deported from Thailand when charges were filed
against him in the US in 1988. He was sentenced to 68 years in jail, but an
overzealous child abuse investigator got 40 years chopped off the sentence in
exchange for Cummings spinning a tale of international "child sex
tours." Although all of the people he accused were found not guilty or
carges were dismissed in both US and Thai courts, in the meantime Cummings and
his supporters (like US Senator Jesse Helms and economic doomsday author Howard
Ruff) destroyed a world famous street children's shelter, along with the lives
of dozens of innocent adults and children. This case began the media frenzy
surrounding "sex tourism," and is often cited by the media as
"Proof" even though no one was guilty. Steve Raymond spent two years
in jail while the U.S. Justice Department -- realizing they had wrongly accused
him -- used international pressure to keep him locked in a Thai jail and away
from the media. He was finally freed after intervention by Amnesty
International. Every time you turn the page, you believe that someone *HAS* to
come into his cell and say, "I'm sorry, Mr. Raymond, we made a terrible
mistake." That apology never came. READ THIS BOOK! If you think your
American government will protect you, you'll learn differently. (Fully
documented, BTW).
More Thai Love & Sexuality Books
Thai Scene: Gay Pocket Guide to Thailand by M. Notcutt
Thai Ways: Sex and Politics, Revelation, New Sex Techniques, AIDS Hypocrisy, Thai Egoism by Rudi Mustafa
More Thai Books A - G H - N M - S T - Z
Please e-mail me mike@bangkok-companies.com if you have a suggestion for a Thai book to include or indeed you want to write a review about any of these books on Thailand
If you are looking for a Thai book on the following subjects and can not find it in this site then please search Amazon
Thai Art & Architechture Books Thai Buddhism Books Thai Boxing Books Thai Business Books Thai Childrens Books Thai Cookbooks Thai Dictionaries Thai-French Books Thai-German Books Thai Grammar Books Thai History Books Thai Language Course Books Thai Love & Sexuality Books Thai Massage Books Thai Miscellaneous Books Thai Phrase books Thai Politics Books Thai Readers Thai Travel Books
Search Amazon for more books about Thailand, books about Thai language, books about Thai Culture and books about Thai Love, Thai Sexuality and Thai Homosexuality
|
||||||
