Gay Boy Thailand

Anonymous wrote…

“Thai Boy Entitlement Syndrome”

Yes, my bf suffers from that affliction too. He has graduated from university now and has a decent job that pays a small salary plus commission. But he still gets an allowance, smaller than when he was a full-time student. His gross “income” is still probably substantially less than the total you estimated that you were giving Chalerm though.

Your decision in relation to the job is a sound one. Thai boys cannot help but be influenced by associating with the money boy lifestyle. They see the income and gifts lavished on money boys and naturally think that if you love them then you should give them that too.

What they really need is to see those boys at age 30 with nothing to show for their lost youth - no love (for the gay ones), no education, and no money.

Has his association with Rainbow Sky shown him the bleaker side of life when things go wrong for gay Thai boys - HIV-infection, drug addiction and life on the street ?

Silom Farang wrote…

Chalerm’s allowance is 2000 B a week. That is what he gets in his hand. The expenses I cover for him are kind of “invisible” and need not last forever (granny’s pension, school fees, dental work).

I guess Chalerm must have spoken to someone who works at Restaurant X, someone who bragged about the good money they can make there. I see this as a temporary lapse of judgment on his part. Sometimes they get harebrained ideas. Chalerm used to have them more often – for example he once said he would go to Israel to pick oranges and needed 100 000 B to pay the agent (probably a scam).

Chalerm left the room in a huff and went sulking when I said no to his Restaurant X plan, but he had recovered the next day.

Boys at age 30? To Chalerm this is impossibly far into the future. He says that at 30 “he will be dead”. He means socially – that the fun gay life will be over then. On one level he knows he must prepare for the future, and that getting his university degree is good. But on another level he lives for the moment, Thai style. I have asked him what former moneyboys have to show for themselves when their short career is over. The problem is that some moneyboys exaggerate how great their work is to lure friends to join them, either for company or to get a recruiting fee. Or if they talk about the profits, they only talk about the peak of their career or about someone who were extraordinarily lucky for a while.

Anyway, Chalerm is out of the main danger zone when it comes to moneyboyism and go-go bars. He was approached with suggestions about this before I met him, when he was a teenager in the village and broke. But he was always too proud to do it and the family didn’t force him. Chalerm has pride and temperament. It would be hard for him to sell himself or to please someone for money.

I believe Rainbow Sky has helped educate Chalerm about many things. The leaders there are sensible, grown people. It isn’t a moneyboy environment either, it is more of a student crowd and many are middle class.