Bangkok and its myriad netherworld charms have apparently been drawing Japanese
women by the planeload over the past few years.
"Go-go boys started off working at gay bars by servicing mostly German and
Australian women. Women of Japanese businessmen stationed in Thailand started
going off to buy them while their husbands were otherwise occupied. Those women
would go home and tell their friends about what they'd done and then they'd all
come back to Bangkok again together. Bangkok earned itself a reputation and
women started coming here in small groups," a former trade company employee
once stationed in the Thai capital tells Shukan Shincho.
Japanese women are providing plenty of patronage for the gay bars where the
go-go boys work along Bangkok's Soy Twilight. Many of the bars feature the boys
dancing naked on stage. Women buy them drinks costing from 20 to 30 Baht (about
700 to 1,000 yen).
"They really love it when you give them a drink. They sit beside you, give you
kisses, put their arms around you or massage your shoulders from behind," an
"Office Lady" from Saitama Prefecture, who frequently travels on tours to
Bangkok's boy bars, tells Shukan Shincho. "We talk in broken English and broken
Japanese. But it's not about the conversation. It's all about the teasing and
feeling good. After drinking for a while they'll ask you to go outside with
them. Normally, they have to deal with these doddering old Europeans who want
them to touch or kiss their willies, which isn't much fun for the go-go boys."
Many of the go-go boys have families of their own and sell their bodies to
support them. It costs the women a 500 Baht (about 1,700 yen) bar fine to get
the boys to go out with them, while the market rate is another 2,000 Baht
(about 7,000 yen) if she wants to take him back to her hotel room. Many hotels
also charge an additional 1,000 Baht if they bring somebody back.
"Japanese women tend to be smart. They travel in pairs and hire out a twin
room. One will bring a boy home during the day while the other goes shopping,"
a worker from a Bangkok hotel says, adding that it makes it impossible for the
hotels to apply surcharges if the go-go boys are escorted into rooms during
broad daylight.
The lure of go-go boys is often all it takes to get many Japanese women to
Bangkok. A Japanese journalist working in the Thai capital elaborates.
"There's a 28-year-old OL I know who first came to Bangkok on a holiday 18
months ago and loved the go-go boys so much she has been coming back to Bangkok
twice a month ever since," the journalist says. "She stays at five-star hotels
costing 20,000 yen a night and keeps the boys with her for a week ... When she
gets sick of one guy, she simply calls up another one. She says she feels like
a princess. Thai men are really kind and make a big fuss over her."
Another Japanese woman, this one a 30-year-old OL from Kanagawa Prefecture, was
also delighted by the go-go boys from Bangkok. She went out dancing with a
group of three boys, including one who called himself "Takeshi."
"Takeshi asked me if I'd like to go home with him. We got into a taxi and went
to his house, which was a fancy place. We have a few beers, then Takeshi asked
me if I'd like to see his bedroom on the second floor. I knew what was going to
happen and my heart started pounding. I told him he had to wear a condom and he
took one out of his pocket and waved it in front of my eyes. We had a laugh and
fell down on his bed. He was hung even bigger than he'd looked like while on
stage. It was huge. I was a bit worried about whether it would fit, but it was
wonderful," the OL gushes to Shukan Shincho, adding that one of the other
go-go-boys soon came along and wanted to join in. "Takeshi asked me what I
wanted to do. I said it was all right as long as he used protection. That guy
brought a condom out of his pocket and showed me, too. It looked like they'd
done this kind of thing before. It was the first time I'd ever had a
three-in-a-bed romp. One would pleasure me with their mouth while the other
used other parts. I guess because they were used to working the gay scene, they
tried to go through the back door, too, but I told them not to do that. At
about 6 o'clock in the morning, Takeshi called me a tuk-tuk and took me back to
my hotel. It was an unbelievably wonderful experience."
Copyright 1999-2007, Mainchi Daily. Used with permission. All rights
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