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Thailand travel sites after the pink dollar seem to think gay only means happy.

Thailand travel sites after the pink dollar seem to think gay only means happy.

That many gays enjoy travel is not earth shattering news. The travel industry figured this out quite some time ago and responded with special promotions and gay-specific travel web pages, all in an effort to grab a hefty wad of the infamous pink dollar. It doesn’t matter whether you are a g-circuit party boy or an older gay couple intent on seeing the world, someone within the industry has you in their sights. Gay tours, travel for gay men, gay destinations, and places in the world of interest to gay men . . . wherever it is you are thinking of going the travel industry can make your holiday a gay one. Even if your destination of choice punishes homosexuality with death. Happy travels.

Gay travel means different things to different people. For some travellers its about scoring hot bodies regardless of where in the world they may be. For others its the sense of security and belonging they get from participating in organized tours made up solely of gay travellers, of people like us which they hope means people like them. And for others yet it is nothing more than the advice and assistance of travel professionals to ensure they – and usually their partner – are afforded a warm welcome wherever they go. Depending on the version of gay travel that interests you, you can find a perfect match, what you want and what the travel industry provides can result in one big sparkling rainbow with all involved happily content. In most cases however, you’ll quickly realize that to the travel industry gay is not a life-style but rather a demographic. And since the demographic you fit into promises lots of disposable income, travel professionals have no problem planting a few rainbows on their web pages to lure you in.

If you followed the travel industry’s example of what constitutes gay, the entire world would be sitting under a big pink rainbow. Sure ‘gay’ doesn’t necessarily mean sex (okay, it does but let’s pretend for a minute), but it should be used as a designation for something of specific interest to the gays. And of little interest to those who are not. Travel is one of the areas that draws a high amount of internet searches. For a gay man planning on visiting some new locale there is a wealth of information available on the internet. But, for example, to find out about the Grand Palace in Bangkok it does not require a website with rainbows on it. When the future traveller clicks on a supposedly gay website covering Thailand he’s looking for gay content – not just more of the same found elsewhere. It is amazing how many gay travel websites never deliver on the gay. You have to wonder if some website that tout the word gay in their title even know about the wonders of sucking dick.

Finally someone found a good use for a rainbow flag.

Finally someone found a good use for a rainbow flag.

Orbitz is one of the larger and better known travel websites, offering hotel deals, airfares, and travel packages. They were one of the first to court gay customers. But if you look at their gay travel area it quickly becomes evident they haven’t a clue about who or what the gay community is. Except that it has something to do with rainbows.

Orbitz’s into to its gay vacation section begins with “Whether you’re living it up with the boys of summer or island-hopping with the ladies of Lesbos, we’re your one-stop travel shop for gay vacations.” Huh. Oh, ‘Lesbos’ ‘Lesbians” I get it. Though Orbitz probably just lost out on a lot of dyke dollars. Not that Orbitz really had its heart set to catering to the gay community anyway. Of the 83 top gay hotel deals they list, only one is gay owned and operated. Marriot, Hiton, and the usual gang make up the remainder of recommended hotels. And their Top Gay and Lesbian International Destinations lists 16 hot spots in Asia for the gay traveller. Thailand is not one of them. But if you are into being sold travel packages via video, they do have a series featuring Miss Richfield 1981, an over the top drag queen. ‘Cuz nothing says gay travel like a campy drag queen.

Closer to home, or at least closer to my heart, there is a still fairly new travel blog for Thailand online now that does a great job of using keywords to grab prime real estate on Google even if it doesn’t put as much effort into covering the gay destinations and areas of interest available to the Kingdom’s gay visitors. I don’t know who Carlos Melia is, but it doesn’t take much reading of his blog to learn he visited Thailand once and has now positioned himself as the leading travel expert on Thailand for gay men. His blog cum website ignores both Silom Soi 4 and Soi Twilight, but does include gay-specific travel deals like a stay 3 nights pay for 2 offer from Siam City Hotel, one of the better known gay hotels in Bangkok. Or at least I have to assume it is a gay hotel. I’m sure they have a rainbow somewhere on their property or website. And don’t get me started on Davey Wavey’s singular visit to the Land of Smiles.

Most Thailand gay travel websites say this does not exist.

Most Thailand gay travel websites say this does not exist.

Not surprisingly, because there are not a lot of opportunities for travel agents to make a buck these days, the gay travel industry tends to focus on upscale properties. If you are gonna go after the pink dollars, you may as well hone in on the larger denominations. I get that. But there are few properties in the world that cater specifically to the gay demographic. Which means your gay travel business is really not that different than any other travel-related business. Despite your rainbows to prove otherwise.

NewNowNext, part of the gay Logo TV brand has a website on travel. Which you’d think would finally be a true gay travel hub, but they are busy running their Traveler’s Choice Awards – supposedly the places in the world gay men love thee most – and from the start, they obviously haven’t a clue. While readers get to chose the eventual winners, nominations were suggested by a ‘notable’ panel of travel experts, folks who write for Lonely Planet, Conde Nast Traveler, The New York Times travel section, The Wall Street Journal travel section, Marie Claire, Elle, Sherman’s Travel, Out, Town & Country, The Miami Herald travel section, Fodor’s, etc. Maybe buried in that etc. is a gay travel professional. Let’s just hope it wasn’t Carlos Melia. Not that it matters. Like regular travel sites courting the pink dollar, the majority of their suggestions have more to do with generating advertising dollars than they do with anything gay.

Not every gay man who visits Thailand has an interest in gogo bars or taking off a new friend to discover one of the better attractions the kingdom offers its gay visitors. At least that’s the rumor. But I don’t get how you can set your site up as the gay travel source for all things gay in Thailand and then forget to mention dick. And where you can find it. Travel Gay Asia, the new kid on the block, at least didn’t completely ignore sex tourism on their site. But while they list tons of other gay, gay-friendly, and not so gay but we threw a rainbow flag up anyway places, they only managed to find one bar on Soi Twilight. Three if you count Jupiter which is “located within the Suriwongse Hotel” and Tawan, which according to them is “located on a side street opposite the entrance to Soi Twilight”. As for why you’d want to visit Soi Twilight they say, “Go-go dancer bars have shows every hour or so, that can be fun to watch – if not taken too seriously. The content can range from erotic dancing to routines that leave only a little to the imagination. In host bars, you pay for the company of a guy by purchasing both yourself and him a drink and then tipping him when you leave.”

TAT wants gays to visit the country, but this is their vision of your gay vacation.

TAT wants gays to visit the country, but this is their vision of your gay vacation.

Utopia is one of the oldest sites offering info for SE Asia travel for gay men. It still ranks as the best. Purple Roofs makes a noble attempt, but is primarily focused on selling you a room. It too has been around for ages. TAT is trying to court the pink dollar, and at least now has a few photos of two guys together on its site, but still doesn’t seem to realize gay and sex tend to go hand in hand. Or that at least a few other body parts are generally involved. The upstarts that spring up monthly all seem to believe in the Field of Dreams promise, that if you build it they will come, instead of the old adage that if you build a better mouse trap the world will flock to your door. Better does not mean the same old same old. And if you are trying to trap the gays, you’d better use some dick as bait. Instead of just a few cheesy rainbows.

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