Interviews With "The Boys" - An Introduction

With and without the help of Thai friends as translators I've done a considerable amount of talking over the years with people in Thailand about their lives, gathering information that I hope to publish one day in a form that might earn me more of a reward than the numb butt I’ve gotten writing about it so far.

Because I’ve long been interested in the whys and wherefores regarding sub-cultures of the Night Life (and yes, the World’s Oldest Profession) quite a number of the folks I’ve talked with have been hosts or go-go boys, either presently or in their past. I’d say go-go dancers but if you’ve spent any time in the clubs you know there’s precious little actual dancing that occurs. Either way, these men have been some of the most intriguing interviewees.

Time and circumstances don’t afford the same opportunities with massage guys but I can usually scribble down some basics immediately after leaving the place from my mid-session Q & A, and photos I take also help to jog my memory after the fact, thank goodness. A few times I actually tried to jot notations on a piece of paper while getting the massage, but found that to be counter-productive to the relaxation process – and messy at best.

I can be a fool but don’t live in a fool’s paradise thinking I can really learn much of anything about what makes a person “tick” who not only speaks a language I’m unskilled with (to be as kind to myself as possible here) but who has no real reason to talk much about themselves, so I am seldom privy to a Thai guys’ inner hopes and dreams, but by showing a little interest and sincerity I’ve found I do get extended glimpses every so often, and it’s been fascinating.

The guys I have kept in contact with over the years have all taken me into varying levels of confidence, and some people have no problem with casual participation in the phenomenon I refer to as “the stranger on the bus” – someone you confide in a little because (A) you want to talk and (B) figure you’ll probably never see them again, so who cares? Some have agreed to allow me to share parts of their stories after being assured I’d change names and some details to protect their privacy.

Tomorrow you’ll see what I put to paper after visiting for a few hours over coffee with the first guy I took out of a club to interview. It’s a “Same same, but different” world for these guys who begin work after the neon blinks itself awake in club land... and yet not so different at all, in many ways.