To think a single man travelling to Thailand regularly is up to no good

[Katyazamo]

My uncle (who I am not particularly close to) travels to Thailand alone several times a year. He is in his mid 50s and has lived with my grandad since divorcing his wife around 20 years ago.
It's suddenly occurred to me that he's probably up to no good :/
AIBU?

My DH is Thai.
And I'm sad to say, the big cities and tourist areas are a hive for sex tourists. All though in my experience, quite a few of the older European and American men who travel to Bangkok/Pattaya/Phuket etc regularly do have a "girlfriend" there....usually a woman they've met working in bars/strip clubs/brothels. MIL tells me that marrying a european or American is seen as a home run for girls from poor, rural families (like MIL). They often leave home and head to the cities, working in bars, realising its shit money, so stop selling beer and shots and start selling themselves

Having lived in SE Asia for a good few years, and visited Thailand/Bangkok more than a dozen times (as well as Vietnam, Cambodia, Philippines etc), I would safely bet that he is not out there visiting temples and what not.

The number of western men I met, and worked with, were looking for one thing and one thing only. Don't get me wrong, not ALL of them. But I would say more than half. Even 'happily' married men, off on 'golf' trips or stag do's. Someone once told me it's known as 'yellow fever'. However I also knew some western men who were very happily married to asian women, had families etc. But they were a minority compared to the 'tourists'.

YANBU.

I would assume exactly the same thing.

I might well be wrong, but that wouldn't stop me from assuming it.

thanks for all the support mn

gary glitter was imprisoned in the uk for crimes on his return home that took place in (i think) cambodia and thailand

I could well be wrong, but wasn't his UK sentence for crimes he actually committed here? I know the Vietnamese jailed him, but I believed that was for what he did in their country ... and was, incidentally, the reason Thailand and Hong Kong refused him entry?

Forgive me if I'm mistaken though; he seems to have committed so many crimes, for so long and in so many places that it all gets a bit confusing

NotTheDuchessOfCambridge

I know of quite a few people that have married their partners who require passports or visas. Most of them don't come from Thailand or associated areas.

He's a pedophile, OP. Does he have any female family members who are close enough to him to be able to give him a stiff talking to?

This is why single males and groups of only males should not be allowed to visit countries with a high volume of sex tourism - no matter how interested in the culture they claim to be, they are only after one thing.

My brother discovered our cousin visits prostitutes in Thailand while on a trip with him. He's 39 and has been doing it for years. He likes the submissive demeanour apparently. We are a close extended family and it would be a huge family scandal if it were generally known.

Caretaker you do know that not all Thai women are underage prostitutes right?
MIL was in her mid 20's when FIL met her.....and shock horror fell in love and had DH

Yanbu. The naivety of some posters here is staggering. A one time visit for the temples and scenery I could accept, frequent visits to the same country which is a sex tourism hotspot by a single man in his 50's? It's not wild speculation, but rather inference from the facts as presented that he is visiting for reasons associated with the sex industry. I would ask him outright.

mollyboom.

I agree with you entirely. Naivety indeed, I'm envious of the bubble they exist in. I really am. Culture my ar$e.

Travelled to Thailand several times. Each time the plane has been either full of couples like us or single men. We once sat next to a 90 year old who was going to collect his new bride.

Another time, it was a row full of revolting blokes boasting about what they were going to do with the women they met once they get there.

Bangkok is something else. Last time we went we sat in Starbucks on a busy shopping street watching the prostitutes picking up punters outside. Seedy isn't the word.

Thailand is an amazing place (outside Bangkok) but yes I would be highly suspicious of a single man travelling there regularly alone.

I wish it was the naive posters that were correct, rather than the cynical ones.

Sadly, having travelled around SE Asia, and having seen what goes on, I know what a lot of lone male travelers are after. I found the Philippines to be the worst place for it.

On threads like these there is a reluctance by many to accept the huge issue with men paying for sex, no one they know who went on a stag do to Amsterdam/Riga etc would have done such a thing

Becuase we don't like to think that any man we respect and love could possibly pay for sex you

Unfortunately we probably all know more that one who has

The question now then is whether OP should report him.

Ladyboys spring to mind lol. Seems that most men who go there are upto to no good

Yep, it probably is what you're thinking OP. I have a colleague who is remarkably naive about her single adult brother who goes to Thailand every year. She told me last year that she asked to join him on holiday a few times but he always refused. I asked if he enjoyed the beaches, food etc... and she replied that he hates being in the sun and only eats at McDonalds when he's there... She appears to have no awareness of the only things that could possibly attract him to the place.

I used to live in Japan and I holidayed in Thailand a few times while I was there. The flights back were always filled with Japanese men sharing extremely candid photos and boasting about the things they had enjoyed doing with the women and girls (including young girls). It was sickening to listen to actually.

I would assume the same op

Yes but without any evidence to consider a main reason a family member travels is sex tourism is shocking

Right. Far better if we all stick to our socialisation as "nice girls" who only consider the possibility of "nice things"? ESPECIALLY if it concerns male relations? That sounds safe 🙄

I hope you're not teaching that to children.

YANBU OP. I really envy the naivety of some posters on here!

I am fairly sure that even if my DP had a burning desire to explore Thai wildlife and history he still wouldn't holiday there knowing exactly what people will assume. To go several times a year seems a little excessive unless he is studying the culture in some detail and surely he would have mentioned if it was that much of an interest.

As someone said, the most obvious explanation is usually right. Why would an older English man, who isn't known for his Thai studies, want to visit a tourist spot known for sex, be that subservient women, children or ladybugs. Most men wouldn't want people speculating on which one they are going for.

*ladyboys

Pressed 'post' too soon. I have a sixty year old neighbour who lives on housing benefit. He spends 2-3 months of every year in Thailand with a Thai bride he hires for the period. I saw a postcard from him to another neighbour the other week complaining that his current one is 25 - so too old.

Actually the thing that annoys me the most is that his taxpayer-funded flat gets left empty while there's a housing crisis in London.

I was watching the news years ago and saw one of my old teachers. He was one of the first men to be tried in a UK court for sex crimes committed abroad.

He seemed weird but not particularly creepy but I went to an all girls school and he was convinced for crimes against boys. I think that was Thailand.