Thai LGT magazines being digitized

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2lz2p
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Thai LGT magazines being digitized

Post by 2lz2p »

The Bangkok Post has an article on efforts being made to digitize Thai LGT magazines for an archive so that content doesn't get lost to memory - from the 80's, 90's, and 2000's --For those that may be interested, here is the link http://www.bangkokpost.com/lifestyle/bo ... lt-history.
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Re: Thai LGT magazines being digitized

Post by Gaybutton »

Thank you for your post.

At the bottom of the article there is a link to their search page: http://thairainbowarchive.anu.edu.au

All that comes up is is a box to enter a search. It doesn't give much of an idea as to just what to search for. I tried simply entering a year. I entered 1992. Lo and behold, loads of gay newspapers came up. Many of them are in both English and Thai. For me, the most interesting part was scrolling down to the ad pages. There they were - all kinds of ads from bars and gay venues, most of which no longer exist. There were several I had completely forgotten about.

Those were the "good ol' days" when there were many more bars to choose from than today, when prices were less than half what you pay now, and when the bars could get away with practically anything. Back then, Dongtan beach was always filled with boys. Now, you're lucky if you even see any boys at the beach.

I can't remember the name of the bar, but the very first bar I ever went to in Thailand was in Bangkok. Some of you may remember John Goss and Doug Thompson. John was the owner of Utopia. Doug was the author of "The Men of Thailand." Back then Utopia had a guesthouse. That's where I stayed. I had no idea how the Thai bars worked or even where they were. I'll never forget my first night experiencing Thai go go bars. Both John and Doug took me to dinner and then bar hopping. The only people wearing clothes in that bar were the customers and the mama-san. The boys were completely naked - and there must have been at least 30 of them.

Gone are the days. Sigh . . . I'd sure love to have a time machine.
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Re: Thai LGT magazines being digitized

Post by Oliver »

Thanks for the link....have just taken a quick look. What riches there are, and memories too. I appreciate that younger posters mock us but, as GB says, things really were more exciting in those days.
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Re: Thai LGT magazines being digitized

Post by colmx »

wow, what a resource!
Thanks for the link GB

http://thairainbowarchive.anu.edu.au/co ... ntents.htm

I remember so many of these magazines.... read from cover to cover - usually as toilet reading material....
And of course a boy would then use your bathroom and absolutely destroy every magazine that you had with water... and all you have was a mess of paper mache!
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Re: Thai LGT magazines being digitized

Post by Gaybutton »

colmx wrote:Thanks for the link GB
And thank you for yours. It all makes me wonder whatever became of those boys. My guess is, aside from the ones who got lucky and found their sugar daddy, most ended up back on the rice farm or some other form of menial work.

Sometimes, when I have a parking lot attendant blowing his whistle at me just as if I've never figured out how to park a car, I can't help but wonder if in their day they were once the models and go-go boys . . .
Oliver

Re: Thai LGT magazines being digitized

Post by Oliver »

I too sometimes think of the many guys who worked at Boyztown in the 90s during my first visits. One hundred plus at BBBz (predominantly straight, it seemed), perhaps seventy across the soi at Cockpit....
How many are married with families? how would they respond if their sons/daughters wished to leave Isaan for Pattaya? I was surprised that my boyfriend told me that he'd be relaxed about his fourteen year-old nephew working in a gay bar once he was eighteen, if he so wished. However, I wonder how typical that is of rural attitudes. After all. P. has done very well financially from his relationship with me- how many of those young men found a LTR with a falang?
Sometimes I wonder how many are hiv, or even more tragically, have died of AIDS. One of the things that surprised me on my second visit to Pattaya, which was only three months after my first, was how few of the guys I wanted to meet again were still working. "He go home long-time" was a typical response from a mamasan. It was only later that I realised that hiv diagnosis may have been one of the many possible reasons.
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Re: Thai LGT magazines being digitized

Post by Gaybutton »

Oliver wrote:I wonder how typical that is of rural attitudes.
I think quite a bit of it is "Don't ask, Don't tell," especially if the boy is sending money home.

Some boys tell me their parents think they're working in a hotel or restaurant. Some tell me their parents know exactly what they're doing and not only that, if they bring a farang home the farang is perfectly welcome and the family is delighted to have them. I've even had some tell me their parents encourage it. Some tell me it's never discussed. Only very rarely do any of the boys tell me their parents disapprove.
Oliver

Re: Thai LGT magazines being digitized

Post by Oliver »

That is certainly true of P. However, for a parent who was him/herself a sex-worker, it may be different. I remember a guy I met a few times from Dreamboys in Pattaya telling me that he lived with his mother in Chonburi and that she was a hostess in a Soi 2 bar.
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