Gay Boy Thailand

Sees all

This is an edited interview with Mr. Oracle. I removed the politics in Bangkok due to the tense situation, but kept the Pattaya gossip.

Blog: What was the big fuss in Pattaya? Underage arrests left and right?
Oracle: Yes. The long announced crackdown in Pattaya.
Blog: Why now?
Oracle: The junta didn’t want to do it. The civilian interior minister is more willing.
Blog: Why didn’t the junta want to do it?
Oracle: The junta hated the NGOs and the busybody foreign policemen and that whole crowd even more than they hated the farangs in Pattaya. And now you have that new big shot cop in Pattaya, the one who cleaned up Bangkok for Thaksin.
Blog: The one who was behind the crackdown on the Silom/Rama 4 corner a few years ago?
Oracle: That’s the guy.
Blog: I had the pleasure of watching that.
Oracle: What did you see?
Blog: Teenage bait boys posing for customers, cops in plain clothes hovering nearby. I heard a number of people were caught. They donated to the tea fund before they were let go.
Oracle: Seeing the inside of a Thai jail makes most people generous.
Blog: But that crackdown was kept out of the media.
Oracle: Yes. That operation was a crackdown for profit. What has happened now is that the similarly profitable operation in Pattaya has been suspended in favour of real arrests with TV cameras and reporters.
Blog: To keep the NGOs and the foreign cops happy?
Oracle: Yes. There are more of them now than ever. The Americans and the Australians in particular. The religious types in World Vision are pouring in money. The Americans threaten sanctions if Thailand doesn’t cooperate so the Thais make a show of it.

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Blog: Do they target bars of ill repute?
Oracle: Not yet. They target those farangs who cheat the bars of ill repute.
Blog: Cheat?
Oracle: From the perspective of the bar owner a farang is cheating if he makes private arrangements with the boy instead of paying the off fee. This goes both for legal and underage boys. So now they target farangs who have underage boys coming on private visits to their homes or hotel rooms.
Blog: I read about a list of suspects that Pattaya police had. A journalist had seen it.
Oracle: The famous 50.
Blog: Was that true? Who had made such a list?
Oracle: Foreign cops and activists, probably. They do the spying and hand over the evidence to Thai cops, begging them to do something.
Blog: Do the Thai cops do something about it?
Oracle: We are talking about the Thai police here. They have other things to do. And they want to know what is in it for them.
Blog: Profit comes first?
Oracle: Profit comes first, unless orders from high say that they want to make an example of a few farangs. Now they wanted to make examples.

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Blog: We never hear about what foreigners have done to help the Thai cops in these arrest cases.
Oracle: Of course not. That would be a loss of face for the Thais. The deal is this: Thai cops will only arrest someone if the foreign cops and NGOs stay out of sight and the Thais get the credit.
Blog: Have to wonder why there are still farangs in Thailand who take this risk? Public humiliation and a long stay in the Bangkok Hilton? How tempting is that?
Oracle: Some people always think they can get away with more than they can.
Blog: Thank you, Mr. Oracle.
Oracle: You are welcome. See you after the next coup!

The Oracle is a Westerner who has lived for decades in Thailand. He prefers to remain anonymous.