PHAKHASETTHAKARN 1

Anunya Cherrie Phakhasetthakarn

Mr. Abel Cadias

English 10 / 10:03

May 16, 2017

Is Thai Society Less Biased towards Lesbians than Gay Men?

People are more tolerant toward lesbians than gay men because they have strong

characteristics and roles in Thai society. The purpose of this research report is to prove that Thai

society is less biased toward lesbians than toward gay men. The importance of this research report

is to provide information on how Thai people think toward lesbians and gay men. The pieces of

information found in this research are based on eight sources and a survey. First, the article entitled

Homosexuality and gays life in Thailand by Jeffrey Hays describes about the attitudes toward

homosexuality, and gay identity, gay entertainment and gay life in Thailand. Second, the article of

Fan Ching Yu of Bangkok Post entitled Long road to equality discusses how US ruling on gay

marriage has resonated around the world but cultural and religious taboos remain strong in Asia.

Third, Pimonpan Issaraphakdee in her article entitled Different Generations, Different Attitudes

toward Sexual Diversity in Thai Society points out the survey about attitude of Thai people in

different generation toward lesbians and gay men. Fourth, the article of Rangsit University entitled

Thai people accepted homosexuality because of social media shows how social media affected

Thai peoples opinion toward homosexuality. Fifth, Naphaseefah in her report called

homosexuality exception in Thai society talks about Thai people opinion on homosexuality. Sixth,

the article entitled The relationship of Homosexuals life in Thailand by Bang-orn Theaptien

provides information of her investigation of the same sex relationships and family life. Seventh,an

article Sexual Orientation by Dr.Krittiya Archvanichkul writes about biological sex, gender
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identity, and social sex role. In addition, the article entitled Identity and life of homosexuality in

Thailand of Busakorn Suriyasarn shows sexulity and sexual problems in Thailand. Furthermore,

the researcher interviews ten lesbians and gay men in Thai society about how they are treated in

society.

Homosexuality in Thailand

Homosexuality refers to a person who loves and is attracted to people of the same gender.

There are two main types of homosexuality which are gay men and lesbians. Thai people accept and

consider homosexuality as another kind of gender and treat them like normal people despite other

countries opinions. Moreover, there are no laws against homosexuality in Thailand. Homosexual

behaviour in Thailand is assumed to be quite common and they can use their daily life as regular

people. According to Time magazine in 2014, 38 percent of men and 29 percent of women said that

bisexuality is acceptable. Thai society accepts and is open-minded to homosexuality compared to

other countries in Asia. Also, lots of homosexual foreigners label Thailand as heaven of homosexual

people. In contrast, it cannot be denied that there are some groups of people who cannot accept

homosexuality and have negative perspective to homosexual people. However, those groups of

people never act out obviously but some little gestures such as their body language and the way

they look at homosexual people. Homosexuality has taken part in Thai society in many ways such

as drama, series, novels or even homosexual role model and celebrity. This fact leads to the

realization how these people influence Thai society. Furthermore, the beauty and appearance of

homosexual people have been accepted and admired, even by Thai people themselves and by

foreigners. Due to the fact that Thailand is Buddhist country, Buddha said that theres nothing

wrong being a gay and thats why there are a lot of gay men and lesbians in Thailand. In contrast,

even though lesbian is one of homosexuality types same as gay but in Thailand, people are more

tolerant toward lesbians than gay men.

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Thai Society Less Biased toward Lesbians than Gay Men

Even though homosexuality is still a taboo, lesbians are more accepted by society than gay

men. It may be a mans world, as the saying goes, but lesbians seem to have an easier time living in

it than gay men do (Irvine, 2015). There are more negative attitudes toward gay men than lesbians

with a majority agreeing that male homosexuals are perverse. Thailand and also many other

countries in the world have the same perspective and mindset of men roles in the society as leaders

with strong characteristic. Whereas now, women are seen as the gender that follows men's lead, and

be dependent on their own, and less likely to be ashamed about their same sex attractions because

it's not seen as an attack on their womanhood or femininity. It doesnt hurt that straight men are

mostly known to have fantasies about watching or participating in lesbian sex. This empowers

many females to explore their same sex attractions without shame. On the other hand, men are more

likely to be shamed for their same sex attractions because its seen as an attack on their manhood

and masculinity. Many people, even with the best intentions, converge gay men with feminine

men. This unfortunately paralyses many men with deep abiding fear and self-loathing whenever

they detect a hint of same sex attraction within themselves. For example, there are many feminist

leaders who have strong characteristics like men and the society look at them just like strong

women. In contrast, men cant be weak, sensitive, or act like women which was not usual for the

society and people think that they look weird. These are the reasons why Thai Society is less biased

toward lesbians than gay men.

The Survey

In this research report, the researcher conducted a survey in May 2017 on 25 MUIDS

students about their own opinion toward gay men and lesbians. Each student will be answering the

particular question Are you comfortable with gay men or lesbian? The result of this survey found
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the heterosexual bias between lesbians and gay men. eighteen out of 25 people or more than 72% of

people in this survey said that they could accept lesbians more than gay men, meaning that the

entire 28% accepted gay men more than lesbian, which supported the research the author did on.

According to the fact in the second paragraph, which talks about the reasons why Thai people are

less biased toward lesbians than gay men, students that the author had surveyed mostly have the

same ideas why lesbians are more likely to get accepted by society. For example, their role,

responsibility, and characteristic in society make Thai people more tolerant toward lesbians than

gay men. The table below shows the result, the survey.

Question Answer Frequency Percentage

Are you comfortable Gay Men 18 72%

with lesbians or gay
men? Lesbians 7 28%
Total 25 100%

Table 1. Students opinions and perspective in accepting between lesbians or gay men.

Conclusion

This research report aimed to prove that Thai society is less biased toward lesbians than gay

men, and to find out the reason for homosexual bias. Based on the research articles, the author

concluded that there is homosexual bias in Thailand due to men and womens characteristic and role

in Thai society which affected societys perspectives of changing roles. This research report

recommends further research on homosexuality bias in Southeast Asia.

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References

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www.journal.msu.ac.th/upload/articles/article320_6951.pdf

Fan Y. (2015, June). Long road to equality. Retrieved 28 March, 2017, from http://
www.bangkokpost.com/print/621032

H. (2014, May). Homosexuality and gays life in Thailand. Retrieved 28 march, 2017, from http://
factsanddetails.com/southeast-asia/Thailand/sub5_8d/entry-3248.html

Pimonpan I. (n.d.). Different Generations, Different Attitudes toward Sexual Diversity in Thai
Society. Retrieved 28 March, 2017, from http://www.ms.ipsr.mahidol.ac.th/ConferenceXI/
Download/Book/447-IPSR-Conference-A04-fulltext.pdf

(May, 2016).


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http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---asia/---ro-bangkok/---sro-bangkok/documents/
publication/wcms_356948.pdf