The structural relationships of support from male sex workers in Pattaya to rural parents in Thailand
McCamish, M.
Culture, Health and Sexuality 4(3): 297-315
2002
DOI: 10.1080/13691050110095847Document Number: 242451
Parents in rural Thailand expect their children, once they start earning an income, to provide them with financial support. The pressure to fulfil this obligation has recently been used to explain why so many rural daughters become sex workers. Beyrer has argued that the special strength of these pressures in northern Thai culture can explain the differential high human immunodeficiency virus seroprevalence among female sex workers from that region. What has not been previously studied is whether these same cultural values place a similar obligation on rural sons. Parents expect these sons to provide ongoing financial support as well as to assist in emergencies and with the education of younger siblings. This qualitative study of more than one hundred male sex workers in Pattaya shows that, despite the continued exposure to non-Thai cultural norms through almost exclusive commercial contact with foreign customers, the overwhelming majority of male sex workers still acknowledge and respond to these societal norms. Despite the greater choice of occupational opportunities for young men than young women, the need to meet their filial obligation may contribute to the choice of sex work.