"Where men can be men": Resituating thai masculinity

Abstract

"Thailand is the last place left in the world," I was repeatedly told by the Western male sex tourists that I encountered in Thailand, "where men can be men." Indeed, thousands of foreign men flock to this Southeast Asian country every year for its notorious supply of plentiful and inexpensive sex with local prostitutes. Does this mantra also apply to Thai men? This article explores the beginnings of a continuing research project into how the massive influx of foreign male sex tourists during the past forty years has influenced how Thai men perceive their own masculinity.