Social & Cultural Geography, 2014

Vol. 15, No. 4, 427–448, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14649365.2014.893703

White migrant masculinities in Thailand and the

paradoxes of Western privilege

Kristen Hill Maher1 & Megan Lafferty2

1
Department of Political Science, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego,
CA 92182, USA, [email protected] and 2School of Social and Political Sciences, University
of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia

This study examines the counter-paradigmatic migration of Westerners into Thailand,

focusing on men in transnational intimate relationships in the northeastern region. We
explore how the particular spaces in which they settled affected these migrants’ capacities
to perform what they saw as hegemonic masculinities over time. We find that they initially
experienced an increase in status that they were able to convert into assets in romantic
relationships, permitting them to position themselves as ‘providers’ and ‘real white men,’
drawing on masculine ideals from their home countries as well as a diffuse neocolonial
imaginary. In the long run, however, these identity constructions were subject to internal
contradictions and attrition. They were also place-bound, creating both financial and
social obstacles to a return home, particularly for those without ties to transnational
capital. The ways these patterns differ from those in existing scholarship underline how
both the particular spaces of migrant settlement and temporal dimensions are critical for
the analysis of migrant masculinities.

Key words: masculinity, migration, expatriate, Thailand, whiteness, transnational

relationships.

Introduction tages grounded in global economics and race

that pose obstacles for the performance of a
Even while the field of masculinity studies has valorized manhood prior to a return home
burgeoned in recent years, migration scholars (e.g. Datta et al. 2009). The few gender-related
and cultural geographers have left the study studies of Westerners living in the global South
of migrant masculinities or ‘the spaces of focus on expatriate professionals (Farrer
masculinities’ relatively underdeveloped 2010; Lan 2011; Leonard 2010; Walsh 2007,
(Hopkins and Noble 2009; van Hoven and 2011), who occupy cosmopolitan spaces in
Hörschelmann 2005: 5). Scholarship that does global cities and often remain quite segregated
center on the nexus of migration and from native populations. By contrast, this
masculinity largely concentrates on men study focuses on a counter-paradigmatic
from developing states living in the global migration of Westerners into Thailand, men
North.1 For this reason, theoretical claims who are largely not linked to global capital or
about migrant men largely presume disadvan- living in global cities, instead settling near the

q 2014 Taylor & Francis

428 Kristen Hill Maher & Megan Lafferty

home communities of their Thai partners or bonds of community. However, these mascu-
wives. This focus permits us to better examine line identities and performances were not
how the particular spaces in which migrant mobile: instead, they were specific to tourist
men settle shape their capacities to perform regions and the social context in the northeast
what they see as hegemonic masculinities2 region of Isan,3 and to some extent even to the
over time. micro-geography (Malam 2008) of expatriate
Thailand is one of the global locations most bars and clubs. In this regard, the geographies
marked by men’s migration from developed that mattered were not simply global North
states, comprising retirees as well as tourists or and South, but much more complex and local
business travelers who settle after finding a social landscapes. In addition, the very ways
Thai partner. While many do settle in Bangkok migrants positioned themselves as white men
and tourist centers such as Pattaya, others in Isan were marked by contradictions that
move to their partner’s home province, a tended to produce new forms of vulnerability
phenomenon that has generated a burgeoning and immobility over time.
population of Western men even in rural areas.
Based on fieldwork in Isan, the northeastern
region of Thailand, we examine the range of Masculinities and migration
strategies male migrants use to position
themselves in local social hierarchies when Migration inevitably transforms gender
their relocation is tied to relationships rather relations and identities, as migrants encounter
than work, and when they settle outside of new gendered cultures and occupy new
cosmopolitan tourist centers. We are particu- locations in a ‘gendered geography of power’
larly attentive to how the resources and (Mahler and Pessar 2001; Leonard 2010; van
constraints that arose for the production of Hoven and Meijering 2005). Although scho-
valorized masculinities shifted over time. lars examining these transformations initially
Both spatial and temporal dimensions focused on female migrants, we now see an
proved to be important. The migrants in our emergent literature on masculinities and
sample did initially experience a sense of migration. Following theory developed in the
empowerment and increased status as men, broader literature on masculinities, scholars in
grounded largely in the ways the meanings of this field presume that masculinities are
their race, class, gender, age, and body type all diverse and that different gendered hierarchies
shifted in the transnational move. They develop in different local contexts (Connell
experienced increased assets in erotic and and Messerschmidt 2005; Hopkins and Noble
romantic relationships that enabled perform- 2009; Walsh 2011). Such local constructions
ances of masculine subjectivities (e.g. as a involve not only the production of inequality
‘player’ or ‘provider’) that would not have between masculinity and femininity, but also
been possible back home. The masculine between different masculine styles that vie for
identities they created in this space drew a valorized cultural position by feminizing
upon scripts of hegemonic masculinity from others, especially those of other social classes,
their home countries and neocolonial imagin- ages, races, nationalities and sexualities
aries about what it means to be ‘white men,’ at (Connell and Messerschmidt 2005; van
the same time as migrants also created new, Hoven and Hörschelmann 2005). Men who
local masculine cultures that served to create migrate transnationally therefore encounter a
 White migrant masculinities in Thailand 429

new terrain of gender hierarchies and must food at home (van Hoven and Meijering 2005)
negotiate their own gendered, classed, racia- or reasserting a patriarchal structure within
lized, and nationalized positions within them their families (Hibbins 2005). Regardless of
(Datta et al. 2009; Hopkins and Noble 2009; class and education, men migrating into the
Leonard 2010; Walsh 2011). How they do global North often experience downward
so—for instance, by ‘drawing upon fragments social mobility and social marginalization
or pieces of hegemonic masculinity which they (Datta et al. 2009) and hence tend to define
have the capacity to perform’ (Coles 2008: their manhood in reference to the gender
238)—is a central focus in the study of migrant ideals of their home community and their
masculinities. status within it.
Most of the study on migrant masculinities to Far less scholarly work has examined the
date has focused on migrants from developing growing migration out of the so-called global
states engaged in low-paid, unskilled work in North into less-developed states, leaving ‘an
wealthier countries (e.g. Batnitzky, McDowell evident and urgent need to develop nuanced
and Dyer 2009; Boehm 2008; Broughton 2008; understandings of these more privileged tiers
Datta et al. 2009; Hondagneu-Sotelo and of movement and to problematize them’
Messner 1994; Kitiarsa 2012; Osella and Osella (Fechter and Walsh 2010: 1198). Westerners
2000), where they experience lack of control have been particularly invisible as migrants, in
and occupy a low status and/or feminized part because they tend to self-identify as
position in the labor market that they struggle to expatriates4 and because scholars have tended
reconcile with a sense of valorized manhood. to label them as mobile professionals or
Such migrants may draw on scripts of hegemo- cosmopolitans (Lan 2011). Instead, we
nic masculinity from home to position them- explore how both their positions of privilege
selves as ‘adventurers’ or ‘breadwinners’ and their disadvantages as migrants are
(Broughton 2008), or as ‘successful tricksters, shaped by their gender, race, and class
lovers or womanizers’ in sexual encounters with locations in both local and global economies.
other migrants (Kitiarsa 2012: 52). At the same Although there has been virtually no work
time, migration can permit men to build their done on Western migrant masculinities,
masculine credentials back home through dis- several bodies of scholarship offer more
plays of cash wealth or cosmopolitanism upon general insight into the complex social
their return (Boehm 2008; Osella and Osella locations and identity constructions of Wester-
2000). ners moving into developing states. Scholars
The less-numerous studies on masculinities examining migrations of white Westerners
among educated or high-skilled migrants have through a postcolonial lens identify how a
also largely focused on those moving towards postcolonial imaginary circulates among
more developed economies such as Indian IT them, reflecting ‘an essentialist binary and
professionals in Germany (van Hoven and hierarchical opposition: Occident/Orient’
Meijering 2005) and Chinese skilled migrants (Coles and Walsh 2010: 1319) as well as
in Australia (Hibbins 2005). Because these narratives of racial difference and white male
migrants were often unwilling or unable to superiority (Leonard 2010). They argue that
participate in locally dominant expressions of Western migrants of various nationalities might
masculinity, they tended to remain in ethni- draw upon (or reject) this collective imperial
cally insular communities, socializing over imagination as they situate themselves in the
430 Kristen Hill Maher & Megan Lafferty

developing world, and that their capacity to do sexual imperialism ‘silence[d] host men’s
so is not necessarily linked to particular desires and subjectivities’ (469). Similarly,
colonial histories (Coles and Walsh 2010; Taiwanese businessmen at work in Special
Farrer 2010; Fechter and Walsh 2010; Leonard Economic Zones in China engaged in rituals of
2010). However, the substantial class diversity ‘consuming’ Chinese women as a means of
among Western migrants shapes their actual marking their capitalist manhood and status in
reception and capacities to tap into such post- a transnational business class (Shen 2008).
colonial narratives (Farrer 2010; Fechter and The most developed literature in this vein
Walsh 2010). focuses on the ways in which Western male sex
Several recent studies examine high-skilled tourists constitute themselves as masculine
and professional Western migrant commu- and racialized subjects through relations with
nities in global cities such as Shanghai (Farrer women in the host countries. They particularly
2010) and Taiwan (Lan 2011). They agree that note how the exercise of power, domination,
there are substantial class differences between or control becomes possible for men in sex
those tied to the movements of global capital tourism encounters that would not be avail-
and those who moved on their own initiative able to them back home, in part because
to teach English, who are derided as ‘losers’ Western currencies go further (e.g.Gregory
and ‘low-quality foreigners’ by both natives 2003; O’Connell Davidson and Sanchez
and higher-class migrants (Farrer 2010). Taylor 1999). Sex tourism destinations func-
Nonetheless, Lan (2011) argues that the tion as a theme park or ‘Adventure Zone for
widespread conflation of whiteness with adults’ that permits men to not just be
Westernness and modernity in Taiwan makes entertained as tourists but also to breach
white privilege omnipresent in that context. Western social taboos and constitute them-
She notes that, for men, this privilege selves as boyish adventurers (Broinowski
converted into ‘assets and advantages in the 1992; Gregory 2003). These landscapes are
field of romance and marriage . . . in an example of the kinds of liminal spaces in
comparison to their dating experiences back which ‘performances of sexual freedom’ are
home’ (1685 – 1686). These studies begin to made possible by the sense of being far from
illustrate how Western privilege varies by home and its norms of behavior (Walsh 2007:
class, but they lack any attention to how it 510).
may vary across space or shift over time, both The above studies on transient transnational
central concerns in our analysis. sexual encounters suggest that there are
More attentive to spatial issues is a growing particular spaces in developing countries
body of scholarship that examines how men (tourist districts, Special Economic Zones,
from developed economies constitute their certain bar scenes) in which there are semi-
own masculine and racial identities in transna- scripted rituals of sexualized interaction that
tional intimate encounters in the liminal permit those coming from comparatively
spaces of leisure or tourism. According to powerful economies to ‘realize’ their identity
Collins (2009), gay Western expatriates in and privilege along the lines of gender, class,
Manila interpreted the attention they received sexuality, race, nationality, and global econ-
from gay Filipinos as an affirmation of their omic position, as well as to experiment with
attractiveness and talked of their self-actuali- new scripts of gendered performance. This is
zation as gay men in this context, even as their an important point of insight; however, we
 White migrant masculinities in Thailand 431

cannot infer from such studies how these Bangkok and the nearby beach town Pattaya.
newly constituted subjectivities play out in Prostitution in Thailand did not begin with
other social spaces or over time in longer-term U.S. military bases or R&R practices, but
intimate relationships. Our analysis aims to American military men changed its public
explore this temporal dimension as well as display as they walked openly with ‘rented
how settling with Thai partners in spaces wives’ down main streets (Van Esterik 2000:
outside of sex tourism enclaves presents 175).
different sets of resources, capacities, and When U.S. troops began withdrawing from
constraints for the production of masculine the region, the industries that depended on
identities. soldiers withered, and Thai officials nego-
tiated an agreement with the World Bank to
transform the entertainment industry created
A political economy of sex and migration for R&R into a global tourist industry
(Truong 1990; Van Esterik 2000). The Tour-
The story of how the Isan region of Thailand ism Authority of Thailand (TAT) played a role
has become populated with Western men in generating sex tourism, beginning with ‘the
relates to the development of Thailand’s sex “1987 Visit Thailand Year” campaign, which
tourism markets, a history that continues to clearly targeted the traveler interested in
shape the position of Western men who settle sexual experience’ (Hamilton 1997: 148),
there. Thailand was never colonized, but it and continuing thereafter by using images of
experienced significant influence of the West beautiful young women to represent Thai-
starting in the mid-nineteenth century, in part land’s character and tourist appeal. Even once
via ruling elites who embraced aspects of the state began to officially discourage sex
Western culture and trade as part of their own tourism, the industry continued to expand,
path to modernity and as a means to centralize catering to male tourists from the Middle East,
power (Harrison 2010). In the 1950s, foreign- North America, Europe and Asia (Hamilton
educated technocrats began a process of 1997; Van Esterik 2000). R&R visits to
opening Thailand to international lending, Thailand began in the corporate realm, as
transnational capital, and the U.S. military companies with workforces comprised of
(Truong 1990). The World Bank provided single males working in isolated areas ‘pro-
loans for Thailand to build up its infrastruc- vide[d] holidays in Thailand as part of their
ture to stimulate investment in a new tourism “rest and recreation” conditions’ (Hamilton
industry, and the USA established military 1997: 149).
bases in Thailand as part of its Cold War The sex tourism industry has wide-ranging
strategy in the region, placing most of its effects within Thailand, one of which is that it
troops in the northeastern region of Isan. entails a rural-to-urban migration of young
Military bases were surrounded by brothels women from marginalized groups. Many of
and bars, where thousands of Isan women the women who work in the tourist-oriented
worked in industries serving American sol- sex and service industries around Bangkok and
diers. In addition, the USA negotiated a treaty Pattaya have migrated from the northeastern
allowing U.S. soldiers stationed in Vietnam to region of Isan, with an ethnic Lao majority
come on Rest & Recreation (R&R) leave that is racialized as dark, indigenous,
to Thailand (Truong 1990), largely coming to and culturally unsophisticated by urban,
432 Kristen Hill Maher & Megan Lafferty

lighter-skinned Thais (Cohen 2003; Lyttleton their past. While the decision to marry a
1994; Mills 2005). As Thai development Westerner has become widely accepted in Isan,
policies have disrupted subsistence farming in it is disparaged by urban nationalists who have
Isan, it has become a source of internal long constructed rural women as the keepers
migrants, especially among unmarried women of Thai tradition and who condemn those who
between the ages of 15 and 25 (Mills 2005), reject this role as immoral materialists
who find work in factories, domestic service, (Sunanta 2009).
and in services related to tourism. In the sex tourism locales of Thailand (as in
Internal migration and marriage to other developing states), the monetary trans-
foreigners have gained respectability among fers that accompany erotic relationships with
the rural lower classes as means for dutiful tourists are not always overtly commercial;
daughters to provide long-term financial instead of immediate demand for payment,
support for their extended families (Cohen they may involve later entreaties for money to
2003; Esara 2009; Howard 2009; Sunanta and pay rent or help family members with a
Angeles 2013). A Khon Kaen University study financial crisis (Cohen 2003). In this regard,
found that when asked what they want for men who do not identify as sex tourists can
their daughters, 90 per cent of the respondents enter into ambiguously commercial relation-
in the rural Northeast replied, ‘I want for them ships with women who do not frame the
to marry a foreigner’ (cited in Bernstein 2007). exchange as sex work (O’Connell Davidson
Although the sex industry is widely disparaged and Sanchez Taylor 1999). Connections that
within Thailand, the earnings from work in begin this way can transform into longer-term
sex tourism can be up to twenty-five times relationships and marriages that result in the
greater than those in other jobs open to rural settlement of white Westerners—locally
women such as factory work (Askew 1999), known as ‘farang’5—near their partners’
and tourist enclaves are among the most likely families in rural Thailand. As Western cash
places for a young woman to meet Western flows through rural communities, other locals
men. Migrations to tourist districts and the experience relative deprivation and come to
relationships that ensue rest not just on want a farang in the family as a route to
economics, but also on racialized ‘cartogra- economic and social mobility. A 2003 survey
phies of desire’ (Constable 2003), in which found more than 19,600 women married to
women in various contexts imagine white European men in Isan alone; in the Nakorn
Western masculinity as progressive, modern, Rachasima province, 21 per cent of all
or an agent of liberation (Constable 2003; Kim marriages were Thai-farang (Limanonda
2006; Schaeffer-Grabiel 2004), and envision a 2007).
union with a Western man as a means to Of course, Western men living in Thailand
produce a self-identity as a worldly person also meet and enter into long-term relation-
(Bulloch and Fabinyi 2009). Dark-skinned ships with Thai women in contexts entirely
Isan women who would be dismissed as unconnected to transnational encounters in
‘inherently unattractive’ (Askew 1999) by tourist districts. Bangkok is a global city with a
urban Thai men or who would be rejected on diverse population of expatriates. However,
the basis of having been married before the pattern of Thai-farang relationships
imagine Western men as ideal mates who initiated in tourist districts is so prevalent
recognize their beauty (Esara 2009) and accept that women from the urban middle class fear
 White migrant masculinities in Thailand 433

that marrying a Western man will tarnish their 586). There is also complexity in the social
social status (Hamilton 1997). Similarly, position of farang migrants insofar as they are
Western men with Thai partners encounter a varied lot by class, age, nationality, and
the stigma of a ‘sexpat’ reputation, no matter behavior. Even while the figure of ‘the West’
how the relationship actually began. may be the object of ambivalent desire,
White Westerners in Thailand occupy particular Western migrants differ in their
complex and varied social positions. As the reception across social and geographic spaces
‘West’ emerged as the key reference point within Thailand, as we examine in the
against which to chart Thai modernity, it following analysis.
became the object of an Occidentalist gaze (a
reverse of Said’s Orientalism), holding an
‘ambiguous allure’ that has moved from its Methods: farang in Thailand
elite origins into mass media and popular
culture (Harrison 2010; Kitiarsa 2010). The Thailand is a particularly interesting case in
mixed race children of Thai – farang relation- which to consider migrant masculinities, as
ships (luk khreung), who used to be ostracized the vast majority of Western settlers there are
as products of prostitution, have come to be men. Howard (2009) estimated that there
adopted ‘as representatives of a modern form were 100,000 Westerners in Thailand in the
of Thainess,’ becoming celebrated actors and mid-2000s, with the largest proportions
actresses, supermodels, and pop singers coming from the UK, Germany, the USA, the
(Kitiarsa 2010: 72). At the same time, luk Netherlands, France, Canada, and Australia.
khreung can find themselves positioned as not His 2005 – 2006 online survey of 1,003 white
fully Thai, both adored and Othered within a Westerners who lived in Thailand found that
Thai cultural nationalism that has long defined virtually all were men (96.6 per cent), and
itself in opposition to the West (Winichakul nearly half were married to a Thai or had a
2008). The very label ‘farang’ represents the live-in Thai partner. About a quarter had come
‘other within,’ identified by its ‘un-Thainess’ to fill an ‘expat job’; others had come initially
(Kitiarsa 2010; Winichakul 1994, 2010). as tourists and ended up staying or returning,
According to Winichakul (2010: 135), the and some had come as retirees. They were
relationship between Thailand and the West is generally well educated, and 70 per cent lived
one marked by paradoxical desires: ‘how to in the tourist locales or Bangkok, with smaller
catch up with the West without “kissing the proportions living in more remote provinces
asses of the farang” (tom kon farang); . . . (Howard 2009).
how not to love the West despite its The material we analyze below comes from
attractions; and how not to hate it despite two field studies by Megan Lafferty grounded
its obnoxious dominance.’ Anti-West senti- in mixed qualitative methods (Meth and
ment and complaints about corrupting farang McClymont 2009): first, a set of interviews
influence (Kitiarsa 2010) are particularly in 2007 – 2008 in Thailand, and second, eleven
common among elites and urbanites, ironi- months of ethnographic fieldwork set in the
cally the sectors that are most westernized Isan region in 2011 – 2012. The initial quali-
and consumerist, and perhaps therefore most tative interviews were conducted in person
eager to ‘assert their Thai-ness, or at least with thirteen Western migrant men in transna-
their appreciation of it’ (Winichakul 2008: tional relationships, most of whom were
434 Kristen Hill Maher & Megan Lafferty

recruited via ads placed in local forums of men with high skills tended to be younger.
Thaivisa.com, a web site designed for Wester- These demographics resemble those in
ners living in Thailand. The later ethnographic Howard’s survey, except that our sample
fieldwork involved participant observation at focuses on migrants with Thai partners,
farang social gatherings, bars, and restaurants, primarily living in Isan.
informal interviews, and participation in daily In striking contrast to existing studies on
activities with Western men and their social Western expatriates, none of our informants
and kin networks. Lafferty’s position as a had transferred to Thailand for work; instead,
relatively young, heterosexual, white Amer- their migration was informed primarily by
ican woman who shared language, cultural relationships and what they presented as
references, and experiences as a farang lifestyle choices. Three-quarters of our infor-
facilitated access and rapport. On the other mants moved to Thailand to be with a Thai
hand, her age and gender set her apart and partner they had met on holiday or migrated
presented a challenge to gain access into with a Thai spouse they met elsewhere. Others
men’s social groups. Some men initially moved without a partner or job but with hopes
questioned the intent of her research, wary of finding both. About a quarter of our
that she ‘had some feminist agenda to push’ informants were retired and living on pension
while others half-jokingly referred to her as funds.
an undercover tax collector or sex spy. Over Only four of our informants occupied a
time, Lafferty earned trust through repeated cosmopolitan class position grounded in their
contact and reciprocal participation, offering connections to global capital through employ-
as much information about herself as she was ment or pensions with a transnational com-
asking from informants. She also engaged in pany; fewer migrants of this class live in Isan
masculine behaviors such as bar banter and than in cities like Bangkok where corporations
drinking beer, activities that allowed access are based. The others (87 per cent) had more
to the bar scene central to male farang modest financial standing and did not come
communities. She continued to occupy a from a position of class privilege. They
complex gendered position, but many infor- included migrants living off a modest pension,
mants came to speak of her as ‘one of the those who found work in a local company
guys’ and invited her into other masculine after they moved to Thailand (e.g. as English
circles such as fraternal clubs. teachers), and entrepreneurs who ran
We focus here on thirty male informants businesses catering to Western residents or
who were in relationships with Thai tourists. Two of our informants were particu-
women at the time of the study. Almost larly marginal economically, having struggled
half of the migrants in our sample came financially back home as well as in Thailand;
from the UK; another quarter were from one was in trouble with the law. While they
the USA; and others were European or did have local employment, these two were
Australian. Eighty per cent had lived in viewed by Thais and other Westerners as
Thailand less than 10 years. All were white heavy drinkers and losers. These variations in
and heterosexual, as is virtually the entire class position shaped our informants’ social
farang population in Isan,6 and 67 per cent reception, transnational mobility, and
were 55 years of age or older. Seventy per capacities to produce various masculine
cent had few or no language skills in Thai; identities.
 White migrant masculinities in Thailand 435

‘I’ve just been in the wrong place’: ances of a masculine identity as a ‘player,’ or
becoming a real white man alternately, as a ‘provider’ and patriarch in a
family. For some older men, these identities
All of our informants experienced at least rested on their access to younger women.
an initial increase in status and capacity to A 56-year-old American (Charley) said that in
perform more empowered masculine identities the USA,
as they moved to Thailand. Their Western
currencies went further, and many of them you don’t have age differences like 50-year-old men
experienced a sense of emancipation from with 20-year-old women—it just doesn’t happen.
social norms at home that had marginalized Only if he’s a billionaire and she’s a trophy wife. I
them as men based on class, age, body type, or say I have a trophy wife too; it’s just she’s 4 foot 11.
physical appearance. In some contexts, they For having a trophy wife, I get off very cheap.
also found that their whiteness garnered
attention, social respect, and advantages in Along the same lines, a 64-year-old Norwe-
romantic relationships. Even while elite Thais gian (Johan) lived with a 35-year-old woman
in major cities widely disparage farang tourists (Ying). He downplayed her caretaking labor,
and migrants, historically marginalized popu- saying that she just had to ‘prance around
lations in Isan tend to grant special status to looking pretty,’ and in return, he gave her a
light-skinned outsiders, reading them as ‘stipend’ of 15,000 baht (US$500) per month.
modern or wealthy. For this reason, farang When his friends and family asked about him,
men in Isan initially experienced a sense of he sent them a photo of Ying posing in skimpy
Western privilege similar to that in the tourist clothes on a motorcycle, and said with a laugh,
zones. As a former librarian from England in ‘see, I’m doing just fine.’ Both men emphasized
his 40s living in Isan frankly articulated: their partners’ youth and beauty as part of
their masculine and class identity perform-
You can see the farangs—in England or wherever, ance. Of course, social networks back home
they would be a no one. Then they come to Pattaya, may not have received this performance as
maybe even myself as well. You know, you’re not a intended: most of our informants said that
big fish, but you come to Pattaya with your money, their families had hesitations or judgments
whatever. [ . . . ] These people [villagers in Isan] will about their lifestyle. The ‘sexpat’ stigma is a
walk past me and try to be lower than me. Have you transnational construction, such that local
noticed that? They think I’m better than them. farang communities may have been the only
(Edward) context in which such masculine performances
were valorized.
Within spaces such as Isan and the Pattaya However, within this local context, men of
tourist zone, our informants found they had an age and body type who had been margin-
additional resources for performing dominant alized by hegemonic masculine ideals back
masculinities and constituting themselves as home (see Calasanti and King 2005) found
privileged white men. them less limiting. A 68-year-old named
A key dimension of their privilege as Paul said that in the USA ‘attractive women
Westerners in such spaces was how it could [ . . . ] don’t particularly like old fat men,’
convert into assets in erotic or romantic but in Thailand, ‘I could find me a very
relationships in ways that enabled perform- attractive woman and live very comfortably.’
436 Kristen Hill Maher & Megan Lafferty

A 48-year-old from London (James) articu- and then they think, ‘I knew I was attractive all
lated similar themes but also emphasized shifts along. I’ve just been in the wrong place.’
in the gender order in the UK as key to his Their production of masculine identities
migration, describing the appeal of a place also rested on a racialized construction of Thai
where an older Western man can reclaim his men, against whom virtually every informant
masculinity within a relationship: compared himself favorably. Because most of
our informants were not socially integrated
Ok, so a guy’s 50, he’s overweight, he’s losing his into Thai culture, their understandings of Thai
hair—it doesn’t make him any less of a man. He’s masculinity tended to reflect the narratives of
had a few failed marriages because he can’t adjust to their Thai partners, many of whom critiqued
being the ‘new man,’ modern man, whatever you former Thai lovers for failing to be responsible
call it. I think some of them want a traditional family providers, a key normative masculine
marriage. [ . . . ] Maybe the women’s careers become ideal in Thailand, according to Malam (2008).
important. I think a lot of us guys find it hard to Western migrants drew on these stories about
adjust to the demands of Western women. [ . . . ] former Thai partners’ failings as men in order
[Here,] we feel we’re in charge of marriage, we’re to produce a broader racialized narrative
the breadwinner. about Thai men as unfaithful, lazy, and
unreliable, against which they could position
James actively sought a relationship in themselves as responsible providers. They also
which there would be an economic and age positioned themselves as superior and desir-
differential in order to perform a masculine able by drawing on a Western masculine ideal
identity as a ‘breadwinner’ who was ‘in charge centered on body size and hair, feeding a
of marriage’ and did not need to make discourse about Thai men as feminine, small,
concessions for a woman’s career as he had and weak; this discourse ignored Thai mascu-
been asked to do by women in the UK. His line norms in which behaviors matter more
interview reprised a widespread critique of than body size. Many thought it natural for
Western women who had become ‘less Thai women to be attracted to them but
feminine’ and made it harder to feel like a expressed puzzlement about how any Western
‘man.’ In contrast, our informants presented woman could find a Thai man attractive or
Isan as a context in which they experienced adequate as a lover. Such stories illustrate how
greater economic power, more sexual atten- farang men strategically adopted fragments of
tion, and (in some instances) greater patri- whatever masculine ideals would permit them
archal control in relationships, all factors to position themselves not just as ‘real men’
contributing to their performance of what they but also as racially superior white men, a
saw as a valorized masculinity. This account construction informed in part by neo-colonial
largely parallels studies of Western male imaginaries.
tourists who interpret the increased sexual Paradoxically, the Thai context permitted
attention and power they experience in sex some migrants to produce an identity as a ‘real
tourism districts as a validation of their white man’ in ways that would not have been
attractiveness and value as men (Collins possible back home, given the ways that
2009; Gregory 2003). As a British bar official multiculturalism and immigration had
manager named Simon observed, Western transformed the racial and cultural landscapes
men get attention from women in Thailand, there. A 49-year-old Englishman named Bill
 White migrant masculinities in Thailand 437

repeated the story of visiting a government paid work and careers, masculine cultures in
office prior to his migration and having it be farang migrant communities in Isan tended to
filled with Afghan men with turbans. He also center around beer drinking, girl watching,
talked about how his nephew went to public and horseplay. In a context where many farang
school and was one of only two or three migrants were retired or employed in femin-
‘English’ children in his class, with an ‘Indian’ ized jobs such as teaching, and where there
teacher. Bill said, ‘You might as well be a was considerable national and class diversity,
foreigner in a foreign country than a foreigner it makes sense that hegemonic masculinities
in your own country. In Thailand, you have would not valorize careers as much as mascu-
more freedom being a foreigner.’ As an line bonding practices. Not all men partici-
expatriate in Isan, Bill could embrace his pated in this culture to the same extent; some
own nostalgic ideal of what it meant to be a instead focusing on domestic life, working on
white Englishman. their house or garden, but they spoke of their
One place this white male expatriate relative social isolation as a consequence.
identity played out was in fraternal clubs, Another source of connection among men
such as Freemasons, golf clubs, or the Hash who never would have associated with each
House Harriers. The latter organization has its other back home was a common identity as
roots in colonial Malaysia, begun by British adventurers, the kind of men who take
expatriates. Seven of our informants of chances with their money, their futures, and
various nationalities participated in monthly their emotions. As a working-class man from
Hashes, events that combined running, beer England (Doug) explained, ‘it takes a certain
drinking, and rituals of playful hazing. The amount of bottle to give up fifty years of your
participants all took on unflattering nick- own culture and overnight change to some-
names and took turns chugging beer in the thing else.’ As we discuss later, the men with
center of a circle after being accused of things the least resources were in fact taking
they had done wrong or too well. Members of substantial financial risks, and there was a
this club tended to be among the wealthiest common narrative about the risks of relation-
and least culturally integrated informants in ships with Thai women. Doug explained,
our sample, who had all had successful ‘They take the risk that everyone knows
professional careers and were between 55 about, but they are [like], “I’ll take my
and 69 years old. Some adopted neocolonial chances, thanks!”’ Every farang man in Isan
styles of dress and housing, and most spoke was able to make claims on this expression of
very little to no Thai. Migrants adopting these masculinity by virtue of his presence there, and
kinds of practices were not grounding their it facilitated at least superficial bonds across
neocolonial identity in Thailand’s particular class and national divisions.
history, but rather in a more general historical In sum, white Western men settled in Isan
imaginary. found that the meanings of their race and body
A similar masculine culture of pranks and type as well as the relative value of their
drinking took place in bars patronized by (and financial assets transformed with the shift in
often run by) farang men across social classes. geographic context in ways that permitted
In contrast to the hegemonic masculinities them to constitute themselves differently as
Walsh (2011) found among British expatriate masculine and racial subjects. Most were able
communities in Dubai that centered around to convert their relative privilege as white
438 Kristen Hill Maher & Megan Lafferty

Westerners into assets in intimate relationships Social isolation

with Thai women and to fulfill their own ideal
as a masculine ‘provider’ for a family, even on The men in our study commonly reported a
fairly modest pensions or incomes. These sense of social isolation stemming from
masculine ideals intersected with racial and barriers or tensions in their relationships.
national identities, insofar as they rested on a Many had developed a separate social life
sense of superiority to Thai women and men from that of their Thai partner, particularly
and were informed by a neocolonial (often those with few language skills in Thai or the
nostalgic) imaginary about what it means to Isan dialect, and whose Thai partners and
be a ‘real white man’ or privileged Western social connections had limited skills in
expatriate. This identity developed and was English. In this regard, their experiences
validated within farang communities that resembled those of migrants anywhere. How-
bridged class lines through male bonding ever, it was not simply the issue of language
practices and discourses about risk-taking that could produce social isolation, but also
and adventure. However, as the next section the stereotypes and expectations that
explores, migrants’ privilege and perform- accompanied farang status. The same cultural
ances of dominant masculine identities eroded and racial essentialism that underlay the status
over time, with more pronounced differences and privilege of being a white Westerner in
across classes. Isan could also set a migrant apart socially,
reducing him to a caricature, ‘just another
farang.’ This experience occurred particularly
The double-edged sword in cases where a migrant settled with his
partner or wife near her family, following the
Westerners who settled in Thailand outside matrilocal tradition in Isan. These couples
of tourist districts ended up in a much more needed to negotiate expectations of dutiful
complex position than that of temporary daughters and financial support for family. In
visitors: the new masculine selves they such instances, our informants reported that
produced were contingent, unstable, and they felt like their relationships with Thais
subject to attrition over time. Some of their tended to center on their farang status and the
experiences paralleled those of other financial support they could offer rather than
migrants upon displacement from a home developing into friendships grounded in
culture and citizenship regime, such as a familiarity, affection, or mutuality.
sense of social isolation and the legal Outside of rural Isan, some migrants also
disadvantages that can shift dynamics of articulated a sense of marginalization as
power in relationships with those native to racially othered foreigners, given more preva-
the country. However, we also identify how lent anti-Western sentiment. Their social
some of the very bases of farang privilege in reception rested on location as well as their
Isan tended to undermine their potential for class status and behavior. In urban areas,
social incorporation, the trust and intimacy middle- or upper-class Thais tend to disparage
of their relationships, and some migrants’ farangs who appear to be poor, are sloppily
potential for return home. These latter dressed, do not act respectably, or do not
patterns depart from the experiences of spend their money freely, calling them kee nok
migrants from developing states. (bird shit). Westerners whose introduction to
 White migrant masculinities in Thailand 439

Thailand had been in tourist zones where relationships for spending too much time with
‘anything goes’ encountered very different their girlfriends or wives. The construction of
reactions when they engaged in similar hegemonic masculinities among Western
behaviors outside these spaces, and some of migrants was a process marked by contesta-
our informants interpreted these reactions as a tion, which formed a barrier to trust and
general dislike for farangs rather than a friendship. Overall, many of the farang men in
reflection of their violation of cultural norms. our study lacked close social relationships: the
Many of our informants dealt with these very places in which they could gain status as
various bases of social alienation by emphasiz- men could also leave them in a world apart.
ing their foreignness and, aside from Thai
partners, socializing primarily with Wester-
ners. James said he had no desire to assimilate ‘I’m sure she loves the likes of me’:
but also blamed Thai society for his exclusion: uncertain intimate relationships
‘As long as I’m here they’ll never accept me as
anything other than a foreigner, even though As discussed earlier, some men interpreted
I’m married here, I have a business here, I’ve their relationships with younger Thai women
got a child here.’ James raised a key point: as an affirmation of their attractiveness and
even farang men who tried to assimilate into tended to explain their own appeal as
Thai culture would be socially marginalized as grounded in being superior lovers compared
perpetual foreigners. By identifying as expats, to Thai men. However, this affirmation proved
they occupy a more privileged position as to be fragile and prone to doubt over time as
Western outsiders than they would if they the role of money in their relationships arose
identified as immigrants who have come to as a source of widespread anxiety.
Thailand to join their wives’ families. This In part, such insecurities were fed by
reality may help explain the appeal of the popular representations of Asian women that
performances of a neocolonial expatriate have emerged from the conflict between
masculinity detailed in the previous section. Western fantasies and anxieties: on one hand,
However, even the relationships that devel- Asian women have been popularly represented
oped between Westerners could be double- as innocents from the countryside, delicate
sided. On one hand, other Westerners could Lotus Blossoms who make ideal wives, and
provide a place of cultural belonging and a key on the other, they have been constructed as
audience to validate performances of mascu- whores and Dragon Ladies, scammers who are
linities. On the other hand, relationships just after money (Constable 2003; Hamilton
between farang men were often marked by 1997). Cohen describes various stories appear-
distrust, competition, and insults, because ing in the Western press of Thai women,
there were always tensions over which forms depicting them as ‘professional tricksters, who
of masculinity were hegemonic within farang repeatedly married, or promised to marry,
communities. Some ridiculed those who had foreign men and abandoned them after
greater language skills or cultural integration relieving them of considerable sums of
in Thailand, either feminizing this trait as money’ (2003: 67). We have seen such stories
something a real man should not have to do or reproduced in discussions among farang men,
else labeling it arrogance and an attempt to both in person and online, and in the fiction
show off. Single men made fun of men in written by farang authors.
440 Kristen Hill Maher & Megan Lafferty

Another reason that insecurities about love similar education and class standing, Nigel
and money arose over time was that the first- raised concerns about his wife’s motives:
world currency that enabled middle- or
working-class tourists to live the high life People hear that Thai girls are targeting Western
while on holiday did not last forever. husbands purely for the economic gain. I think for a
Particularly, if a man understood his marriage Thai woman [ . . . ] that the financial security does
to be grounded in part on the desire for play a bigger part of the relationship, certainly
financial security, he might fear that his Thai initially than in the West. [ . . . ] Not that I’m bad
partner would leave him in the future for looking, but I’m quite sure she could do better than
someone who was a more secure provider. me in the looks department. Part of the attraction to
Despite Edward’s generally positive assess- her has been that I can provide security to her [ . . . ]
ment of his own two-year marriage, he But I do see [ . . . ] the genuine parts of the
pondered aloud whether his wife had genuine relationship evolve between us. Silly things like
emotional ties to him: she’ll wake up the middle of the night and roll over
and put her arms around me. And that’s almost in
Nat always tells me she loves me. Every day she tells her sleep. That’s not something you do with
me, “have I told you I love you today?” And I do someone you don’t share deep feelings with.
hope she does. I know she did it for an economic
reason. I know she has a past, but I’ve got a past. Here, Nigel frames the role of material
[ . . . ] You know, I mean, that’s not an issue with me. security in opposition to ‘the genuine parts of
She instigates sex; it doesn’t always come from me. the relationship,’ such that the fact that Lin
If she didn’t love me, would she do that? Probably valued security left him looking for evidence of
not. There is an age gap and whatever, and I was authentic emotion.
worried about that. Of course, financially strategic relationships
can deepen and last, and there is no reason to
Aware of economic circumstances and uneasy assume that women who enter into such
about the age difference, Edward said he relationships do not also hope for love.7 Part
trusted Nat, but he still felt uncertain about of the farang insecurity in this context surely
whether she loved him as an individual or for derives from Western notions of love and
what he could provide: ‘She says she loves me, marriage that consider true love and economic
and I’m sure she loves the likes of me. Maybe transactions to be incompatible (Constable
she loves me. I don’t know. I hope so.’ 2003; Zelizer 2000). The monetary transfers
Nigel, a 56-year-old Englishman, had come that have traditionally accompanied Western
to Thailand to make a fresh start after he sexual relationships, such as men buying
went through a divorce back home. Wary of expensive gifts or paying the bill on dates,
‘meeting a woman who would only want to be have instead been carefully packaged as
looked after,’ Nigel used an online dating romance. For this reason, men who accept
service to search for a well-educated woman the dichotomy of marriages as grounded either
from a middle-class background. After corre- in opportunism or authentic emotion may
sponding with women for about four months, struggle to reconcile the two if they acknowl-
he ‘narrowed it down to Lin,’ his 30-year-old edge any pragmatic motives on the part of
wife who had a bachelor’s degree and worked their partners. This struggle is not unique to
for an insurance company. Despite their farang men in Thailand, but it is surely
 White migrant masculinities in Thailand 441

heightened by the ways their relative assets in compounded the effects of additional policies
relationships increase upon migration, the that prohibited non-citizens from owning
widespread discourse about scamming Thai houses or land, making it necessary for most
women, and their cultural differences with property purchased by a farang-Thai couple to
Thai partners in how they frame appropriate register it under a Thai citizen’s name (Cohen
monetary transfers within intimate 2003; Howard 2009). These policies made
relationships. tenuous the legal residency of those with few
financial assets and necessitated the transfer of
property to Thai partners, shifting some
Shifts in power and immobility power within their relationships.
In addition, migrant men experienced a loss
Finally, migrants’ capacities to produce iden- of control in daily matters. Those who were
tities as ‘real white men’ in Thailand tended to not fluent in Thai had to rely on their partners
erode over time, particularly insofar as they for translating, for handling local matters such
experienced shifts in power in relationships as finances, legal issues, and even daily
with Thai women and lost a sense of control in errands. They depended on Thai partners to
daily matters. White Westerners encountered guide them through the local Thai social scene,
similar cultural and legal disadvantages that and those with children tended to defer to their
migrants experience elsewhere; however, they partner’s judgments about the child’s (and
also faced obstacles to return home that family’s) needs. Many of the men in our study
appear to be more unique to the North-to- counteracted some of this dependency by
South migrant experience. offering their Thai partners monthly stipends
One basis for shifts in gender power in rather than turning over all their income, as is
relationships stemmed from state policies. historically more common in Thai households.
Although the Thai state continues to court Even with this gesture of financial control,
foreign capital, investment, and tourism, its the above shifts in power complicated the
regulations on the entry, settlement, and construction of a hegemonic masculinity in
property rights of foreigners reflect the relation to Thai partners, particularly insofar
cultural nationalism that positions the grow- as it rested on gender dominance. A working-
ing population of farang in Thailand as class bar manager in Isan positioned himself as
quintessential Others and eternal outsiders. an old hand who understood the truth of the
The laws for entry are complex, but in general, farang situation, repeating the following story
staying past a tourist entry on a non- in different forms:
immigrant, one-year renewable visa rests on
maintaining a minimum monthly income or A friend once said to me, “Simon, you’ve got to
sum in a Thai bank. For those under 50 not remember the golden rule in Thailand,” and I said,
eligible for a retirement visa, it also rests on “what’s that?” And he said, “the man with the gold
having a Thai spouse, a desired occupation, rules.” Well certainly he does. Till he’s transferred
investment capital, or a role in business. the bonds to the lady! Then he ain’t got no ruling
Permanent residency and naturalization are power. She’s got it all then. [ . . . ] Everything is in her
tightly restricted, such that it is difficult even name. The car’s in her name, the house is in her
for foreigners with Thai spouses and children name. [ . . . ] So shit, if she says “we’re not going out
to gain citizenship. This legal exclusion tonight,” we’re not fucking going out tonight! Well
442 Kristen Hill Maher & Megan Lafferty

you can go out, but don’t come home “cause you These insecurities tended to generate a sense
don’t got one.” of ambivalence and disillusionment among
long-term migrants, who nonetheless did not
While not every Western man in our study had often pursue a return home, in large part
sought out a relationship where he could because the increased status they gained from
exercise control over a partner, Simon equated their migration would work in the reverse
control in a marriage with being a ‘real man,’ upon their return. While some high-income
and he concluded that ‘the men in Thailand Western migrants living in Thailand have the
aren’t men anymore.’ wherewithal for global mobility, few of those
Thai women exercised power in relation- in our sample fit that category. For men
ships with farang men not only by holding without connections to global capital, the
legal ownership of property and controlling move back was generally not financially
many daily matters, but also by leaving. Men feasible: they would find it difficult to re-
in farang communities repeated gossip about enter the labor market after so much time
who left whom, taking what resources, and away, and the costs of living would be higher
they experienced the prospect of such losses as at home, with even greater challenges during
a genuine threat. Many of them had experi- this time of high unemployment and the
enced this scenario to some small degree, with erosion of the welfare state. Although these
ex-girlfriends keeping some money, property, migrants initially experienced greater econ-
or a car at the end of the relationship. Some of omic power upon their arrival in Thailand, the
the more extreme stories ended in catastrophe, advantages of Western currencies did not
such as the case of Collin from the UK, whose sustain long-term economic or geographic
retirement savings had dwindled, partially mobility. In addition, were they to return
invested in a farm in Isan that he and his wife home, the meanings of their race, class, and
purchased under her name. At the time they gender would shift in ways that would make
separated, he had little more than $1000 in the less possible the construction of an identity as
bank. Without enough money to qualify for a a ‘real white man.’ In fact, they may instead
non-immigrant visa, Collin could afford face stigma and the demasculinizing assump-
neither to stay nor to start over somewhere tion that they had gone to Thailand because
else. Farang migrants interpreted such stories they were unable to attract Western women. In
to validate their fears of financial loss, creating this regard, they differ substantially from
a widespread sense of vulnerability that migrant men from developing states who
undermined their initial feelings of masculine return home with a more valorized masculine
status and control upon moving to Thailand. position.
These stories also reinforced the racialized At the same time, many of our informants—
construction of Thai women as ‘scammers’ including those with a long-term partner,
that obstructed their trust in their own children, and/or higher levels of social
intimate relationships. As discussed earlier, integration—also faced practical obstacles
migrant men negotiated these vulnerabilities for a future in Thailand. Ben, aged 38, said
in part by positioning themselves as risk-takers of himself and another American in his 30s:
and adventurers, a frame that permitted some ‘Guys like us, we’re fucked. We’re at the age
degree of masculine valor amidst emotional where it’s too late to go home, but we’ll never
and financial insecurity. have a secure future here. There will be no
 White migrant masculinities in Thailand 443

pension. Once you stop working, there is no them to constitute themselves as ‘successful’
money.’ The terms on which he could stay also men, drawing on ideals of hegemonic mascu-
troubled him, as he did not ‘want to be a linity from home. We argue that this masculine
teacher in Thailand forever.’ Although he was position was also informed by a neocolonial
married to a Thai woman and had a child, he imaginary grounded in a sense of cultural and
did not make enough money on his teacher’s racial superiority to Thai women and men.
salary to obtain a spousal visa, yet teaching These identities developed and were affirmed
English was one of the only jobs for which he within farang communities that bridged class
could acquire a work visa. He felt trapped in a and national divisions through a common
job he did not like in order to legally stay in the identity as risk-taking adventurers and
country. through masculine-bonding practices such as
Other studies of Western migrants living in drinking and horseplay.
developing states in Asia have briefly men- On the other hand, our ethnographic
tioned similar patterns of erosion of privilege, approach also brought to light some of the
disillusionment, or relative immobility among ‘messy practices of power’ (Meth and McCly-
those with fewer financial resources (Cohen mont 2009: 922) and ways that settling in Isan
1984; Farrer 2010; Lan 2011), suggesting that as a foreigner over time also introduced new
these may be more general patterns among forms of marginalization and vulnerability
North-to-South migrants without connections that constrained their performances of their
to transnational capital. Combined with the own masculine ideals. Some limits emerged
shifts in gender power, distrust in intimate from the kinds of legal disadvantages and
relationships, and more general social iso- cultural displacements that are common
lation, they comprise significant constraints to among migrants. However, we also identify
the long-term production of valorized mascu- ways in which the very bases of their privilege
line identities in this context. paradoxically tended to have negative con-
sequences that eroded their sense of belonging,
mobility, and manhood. For instance, the same
The complexities of white masculine cultural and racial essentialism that privileged
transformation in Thailand them made it difficult to establish social
relationships with Thais grounded in anything
This study illustrates how shifts in social but the generic expectations of a farang.
location among white Western men in Forming intimate relationships with Thai
transnational relationships who had settled women grounded in part on their assets as
in Thailand both enabled and constrained Westerners left them distrustful of their
performances of hegemonic masculinities over partners’ genuine emotional commitment.
time. On one hand, those settling with Thai Perhaps most critically, the identities they
partners in Isan at least initially experienced constituted as ‘real white men’ were place-
an increase in status grounded in the relatively bound rather than mobile, on several scales.
greater value of their financial resources and On a transnational scale, the relative value of
their identity as white Westerners, both locally their financial assets, the meaning of their
valorized in Isan. They were able to leverage whiteness, their advantages in romantic pur-
this privilege as an asset in relationships with suits, and any affirmation of their masculine
younger Thai women in ways that permitted performances among other farang men would
444 Kristen Hill Maher & Megan Lafferty

all be lost upon a return home. These issues instance, literatures on Western sex tourists
were most pronounced for those with the least tend to attribute the privilege and power of
financial resources. The masculine identities Western men largely to their structural
they produced were also place-bound within position in the global economy. In contrast,
Thailand: farang migrants experienced more this study illustrates how manifestations of
privilege in tourist zones and throughout Isan Western privilege can vary across social
than among Thais in urban settings. Even spaces, depending upon the social relations
within Isan, there were spaces in which and hierarchies in particular local contexts as
migrants were more likely to have their well as the class position of the migrant. Even
masculine performances affirmed and valor- within spaces in which Western migrants
ized, such as in expatriate clubs and bars, initially experienced increased status and
while they experienced some powerlessness privilege, this position was not stable over
socially among Thais or at home. time, but was subject to erosion and internal
Our findings illustrate both continuities and contradiction. These findings suggest that
differences with existing literatures on migrant future scholarship should carefully attend to
masculinities. We find continuities with studies both spatial and temporal dimensions in the
on men from developing states insofar as production of migrant masculinities.
Western migrants in Isan responded to social
marginalization and cultural barriers by
socially retreating into migrant communities. Acknowledgements
They similarly drew upon fragments of
hegemonic masculinity from back home that This research was enabled by a grant from the
they had the capacity to perform in this new Faculty of Arts at the University of Mel-
context, as well as creating their own, local bourne. We are grateful to Paul Green,
masculine cultures. However, there were also Andrew Dawson, Marc Askew, Ruth Oli-
striking contrasts, insofar as Western migrant phant, Dan Lim, Julienne Corboz, Susanna
communities defined themselves in neocolo- Nied, and the anonymous reviewers for their
nial terms as racial and cultural superiors and comments.
experienced some privilege insofar as many of
those in Isan shared a similar neocolonial Notes
imaginary. In this regard, Westerners’ capacity
to perform dominant masculinities—even as 1. The terms ‘global North’ and ‘global South’ are
this capacity became unstable and eroded over increasingly unsatisfactory and amidst financial crisis
time—was greater in Isan than it would be in the West and rapid economic growth in places such as
Thailand; the North-South dualism does not capture
upon a return home, in contrast to labor
these complex and shifting loci of economic power..
migrants in the global North who may more However, international currency regimes still privilege
realistically fantasize about their valorization those using Euros, Dollars, and Yen, and in many
as men back home. contexts, a historical imperial imaginary continues to
Unsurprisingly, western migrants in Isan produce social hierarchies grounded in the intersection
of race, nationality, gender, and global position. For
had more in common with others making a
these reasons, we believe it is still meaningful to refer to
North-to-South trajectory, with some key a global North and South in a study of transnational
exceptions regarding the spaces and tempor- migration, even as our analysis shows these categories
ality of Western masculine privilege. For to be unstable.
 White migrant masculinities in Thailand 445

2. ‘Hegemonic masculinity’ refers to what Connell and Batnitzky, A., McDowell, L. and Dyer, S. (2009) Flexible
Messerschmidt call the ‘most honored way of being a and strategic masculinities: the working lives and
man’ in a particular social and cultural context (2005: gendered identities of male migrants in London, Journal
832). It reflects cultural ideals that may not represent of Ethnic and Migration Studies 8: 1275–1293.
actual men’s lives so much as they are popular fantasies Bernstein, R. (2007) Variations on a theme: Thai women
and desires that men negotiate, subvert, go along with, and foreign husbands, The New York Times, 12 Aug.
or reinforce (Connell and Messerschmidt 2005; Coles http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/12/world/asia/12iht-
2008). letter.1.7087394.html. Accessed 16 December 2013.
3. Similar dynamics may be true for other regions of Boehm, D.A. (2008) ‘Now I am a man and a woman!’:
Thailand away from the central urban centers, but this gendered moves and migrations in a transnational
study is primarily limited to Isan, so we are reluctant to Mexican community, Latin American Perspectives 35
generalize. (1): 16–30.
4. Fechter and Walsh point out that the expatriate Brennan, D. (2004) What’s Love Got to do With It?:
moniker is technically correct, but that it tends to be Transnational Desires and Sex Tourism in the Domin-
‘reserved for white Western migrants,’ which not only ican Republic. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
marks them as fundamentally different but also Broinowski, A. (1992) The Yellow Lady: Australian
obscures some postcolonial baggage about race that Impressions of Asia. Melbourne: Oxford University
deserves to be interrogated (2010: 1199). Press.
5. The term farang popularly refers to white Westerners. Broughton, C. (2008) Migration as engendered practice:
According to Cook and Jackson (1999: 18), it is ‘a Mexican men, masculinity, and northward migration,
ubiquitous Thai cultural-ethnic term which conflates Gender and Society 22(5): 568 –589.
“Caucasian (race)” and “Western (culture).”’ Bulloch, H. and Fabinyi, M. (2009) Transnational
6. Migrant sexualities were diverse in Bangkok and relationships, transforming selves: Filipinas seeking
Pattaya; however, gay men did not often move to husbands abroad, Asia-Pacific Journal of Anthropology
more rural provinces with their partners. In Isan, 10(2): 129–142.
Lafferty spoke with one black Londoner and an Arab- Calasanti, T. and King, N. (2005) Firming the floppy
American, but Thais did not treat them as farangs, but penis: age, class, and gender relations in the lives of old
instead as African or Arab, so their experiences differed men, Men and Masculinities 8(1): 3– 23.
substantially. With so few potential informants, we Cohen, E. (1984) The dropout expatriates: a study of
were not able to fully explore these dimensions of marginal farangs in Bangkok, Urban Anthropology
identity here. 13(1): 91– 115.
7. For instance, Brennan (2004) found romantic hopes Cohen, E. (2003) Transnational marriage in Thailand: the
among women working in a Dominican sex tourism dynamics of extreme heterogamy, in Bauer, T.G. and
district alongside fantasies of how a first-world passport McKercher, B. (eds) Sex and Tourism: Journeys of
could open doors to a better life. In her study of Romance, Love, and Lust. New York: The Haworth
correspondence marriages between Western men and Hospitality Press, pp. 57–81.
Asian women, Constable also emphasizes the wide Coles, T. (2008) Finding space in the field of masculinity:
diversity of motivations among both partners and how lived experiences of men’s masculinities, Journal of
such relationships are not reducible to economics or power Sociology 44: 233–248.
relations, even while they are shaped by them (2003). Coles, A. and Walsh, K. (2010) From ‘trucial state’ to
‘postcolonial’ city? The imaginative geographies of
British expatriates in Dubai, Journal of Ethnic and
References Migration Studies 36(8): 1317–1333.
Collins, D. (2009) ‘We’re there and queer’: homonorma-
Askew, M. (1999) Strangers and lovers: Thai women sex tive mobility and lived experience among gay
workers and western men in the ‘pleasure space’ of expatriates in Manila, Gender & Society 23(4):
Bangkok, in Forshee, J., Fink, C. and Cate, S. (eds) 465 –493.
Converging Interests: Traders, Travelers and Tourists in Cook, N.M. and Jackson, P.A. (1999) Desiring constructs:
Southeast Asia. Berkeley: International and Area transforming sex/gender orders in twentieth-century
Studies, pp. 109 –148. Thailand, in Cook, N. and Jackson, P. (eds) Genders and
446 Kristen Hill Maher & Megan Lafferty

Sexualities in Modern Thailand. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Howard, R.W. (2009) The migration of Westerners to
Books, pp. 1–27. Thailand: an unusual flow from developed to develop-
Connell, R.W. and Messerschmidt, J.W. (2005) Hegemo- ing world, International Migration 47(2): 193 –225.
nic masculinity: rethinking the concept, Gender and Kim, N.Y. (2006) ‘Patriarchy is so Third World’: Korean
Society 19(6): 829–859. immigrant women and ‘migrating’ white Western
Constable, N. (2003) Romance on a Global Stage: Pen masculinity, Social Problems 53(4): 519 –536.
Pals, Virtual Ethnography, and ‘Mail Order’ Marriages. Kitiarsa, P. (2010) An ambiguous intimacy: Farang as
Berkeley: University of California Press. Siamese Occidentalism, in Harrison, R.V. and Jackson,
Datta, K., McIlwaine, C., Herbert, J., Evans, Y., May, J. P.A. (eds) The Ambiguous Allure of the West: Traces of
and Wills, J. (2009) Men on the move: narratives of the Colonial in Thailand. Hong Kong Univ. Press,
migration and work among low-paid migrant men in pp. 57–74.
London, Social & Cultural Geography 10(8): 853– 873. Kitiarsa, P. (2012) Masculine intent and migrant
Esara, P. (2009) Imagining the western husband: Thai manhood: Thai workmen talking sex, in Ford, M. and
women’s desires for matrimony, status, and beauty, Lyons, L. (eds) Men and Masculinities in Southeast Asia.
Ethnos 74(3): 403– 426. London: Routledge, pp. 38– 55.
Farrer, J. (2010) ‘New Shanghailanders’ or ‘New Lan, P. (2011) White privilege, language capital and
Shanghainese’: western expatriates’ narratives of cultural ghettoisation: western high-skilled migrants in
emplacement in Shanghai, Journal of Ethnic and Taiwan, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 37
Migration Studies 36(8): 1211–1228. (10): 1669–1693.
Fechter, A. and Walsh, K. (2010) Examining ‘expatriate’ Leonard, P. (2010) Work, identity, and change? Post/
continuities: postcolonial approaches to mobile pro- colonial encounters in Hong Kong, Journal of Ethnic
fessionals, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies and Migration Studies 36(8): 1247–1263.
36(8): 1197–1210. Limanonda, B. (2007) Motivation and process of marriage
Gregory, S. (2003) Men in paradise: sex tourism and the migration: a case study of Thailand. Paper presented at
political economy of masculinity, in Moore, D.S., PAK/IPAR conference on International Marriage
Kosek, J. and Panadian, A. (eds) Race, Nature, and Migration in Asia, Seoul.
the Politics of Difference. Durham: Duke University Lyttleton, C. (1994) The good people of Isan: commercial
Press, pp. 323–355. sex in northeast Thailand, The Australian Journal of
Hamilton, A. (1997) Primal dream: masculinism, sin, and Anthropology 5(3): 257–280.
salvation in Thailand’s sex trade, in Manderson, L. and Mahler, S.J. and Pessar, P.R. (2001) Gendered geographies
Jolly, M. (eds) Sites of Desire, Economies of Pleasure: of power: analyzing gender across transnational spaces,
Sexualities in Asia and the Pacific. Chicago: University Identities 7(4): 441–459.
of Chicago Press, pp. 145–165. Malam, L. (2008) Spatialising Thai masculinities: nego-
Harrison, R.V. (2010) The allure of ambiguity: the ‘west’ tiating dominance and subordination in Southern
and the making of Thai identities, in Harrison, R.V. and Thailand, Social & Cultural Geography 9(2): 135–150.
Jackson, P.A. (eds) The Ambiguous Allure of the West: Meth, P. and McClymont, K. (2009) Researching men: the
Traces of the Colonial in Thailand. Hong Kong: Hong politics and possibilities of a qualitative mixed-methods
Kong University Press, pp. 1 –36. approach, Social & Cultural Geography 10(8):
Hibbins, R. (2005) Migration and gender identity among 909– 925.
Chinese skilled male migrants to Australia, Geoforum Mills, M. (2005) Engendering discourses of displacement:
36: 167–180. contesting mobility and marginality in rural Thailand,
Hondagneu-Sotelo, P. and Messner, M. (1994) Gender Ethnography 6(3): 385–419.
displays and men’s power: the ‘new man’ and the O’Connell Davidson, J. and Sanchez-Taylor, J. (1999)
Mexican immigrant man, in Brod, H. and Kaufman, M. Fantasy islands: exploring the demand for sex tourism,
(eds) Theorizing Masculinities. Thousand Oaks: Sage, in Kempadoo, K. (ed.) Sun, Sex, and Gold: Tourism and
pp. 200–219. Sex Work in the Caribbean. Lanham: Rowman and
Hopkins, P. and Noble, G. (2009) Editorial. Littlefield, pp. 37–54.
Masculinities in place: situated identities, relations and Osella, F. and Osella, C. (2000) Migration, money and
intersectionality, Social & Cultural Geography 10(8): masculinity in Kerala, Royal Anthropoligical Institute
811 –819. 6: 117–133.
 White migrant masculinities in Thailand 447

Schaeffer-Grabiel, F. (2004) Cyberbrides and global Abstract translations

imaginaries: Mexican women’s turn from the national Masculinités des immigrants blancs en Thaı̈lande
to the foreign, Space and Culture 7(1): 33–48. et paradoxes du privilège occidental
Shen, H. (2008) The purchase of transnational intimacy:
women’s bodies, transnational masculine privileges in Cette étude examine la migration contre-paradig-
Chinese Economic Zones, Asian Studies Review 32: matique des Occidentaux en Thaı̈lande, en se
57– 75. concentrant sur les hommes entretenant des
Sunanta, S. (2009), Global Wife, Local Daughter: Gender, relations intimes transnationales dans la région du
Family, and Nation in Transnational Marriages in nord-est. Nous explorons comment, au fil du temps,
Northeast Thailand, Doctoral dissertation. University les espaces particuliers dans lesquels ils se sont
of British Columbia. https://circle.ubc.ca/bitstream/ installés ont affecté les capacités de ces immigrants
handle/2429/6267/ubc_2009_spring_sunanta_sirijit. d’accomplir ce qu’ils considéraient comme des
pdf masculinités hégémoniques. Nous trouvons qu’ini-
Sunanta, S. and Angeles, L.C. (2013) From rural life to tialement, ils ont connu une élévation de leur statut
transnational wife: agrarian transition, gender mobility, qu’ils ont pu convertir en atouts dans leurs relations
and intimate globalization in transnational marriages in amoureuses, leur permettant de se poser comme
northeast Thailand, Gender, Place and Culture 20(6): « gagneur de pain » et comme « un homme blanc,
699–717. un vrai », en puisant dans l’idéal masculin de leur
Truong, T. (1990) Sex, Money and Morality: Prostitution pays d’origine ainsi que dans un imaginaire
and Tourism in Southeast Asia. London: Zed Books. néocolonial diffus. Cependant, à la longue, ces
Van Esterik, P. (2000) Materializing Thailand. Oxford: constructions identitaires ont été soumises à de
Berg. l’attrition et des contradictions intérieures. Ils
van Hoven, B. and Hörschelmann, K. (eds) (2005) Spaces étaient aussi limités à un lieu, causant ainsi des
of Masculinities. London: Routledge. obstacles à la fois financiers et sociaux pour
van Hoven, B. and Meijering, L. (2005) Transient retourner chez eux, surtout pour ceux qui n’avaient
masculinities: Indian IT-professionals in Germany, in pas accès à un capital transnational. La manière
van Hoven, B. and Hörschelmann, K. (eds) Spaces of dont ces modèles diffèrent de ceux d’études
Masculinities. London: Routledge, pp. 75–85. actuelles souligne à quel point les espaces particu-
Walsh, K. (2007) ‘It got very debauched, very Dubai!’ liers d’installation d’immigrants et les dimensions
Heterosexual intimacy amongst single British temporelles sont tous deux essentiels à l’analyse des
expatriates, Social & Cultural Geography 8(4): masculinités des immigrants.
507 – 533.
Walsh, K. (2011) Migrant masculinities and domestic Mots-clefs: Masculinité, migration, expatrié, Thaı̈-
space: British home-making practices in Dubai, Trans- lande, le fait d’être blanc, relations transnationales.
actions of the Institute of British Geographers 36:
516–529. Masculinidades migrantes blancas en Tailandia y
Winichakul, T. (1994) Siam Mapped: A History of the las paradojas de privilegio occidental
Geo-Body of a Nation. Honalulu: Hawaii University
Press. Este estudio examina la atı́pica migración de
Winichakul, T. (2008) Nationalism and the radical personas del mundo occidental a Tailandia,
intelligentsia in Thailand, Third World Quarterly 29 centrándose en hombres en relaciones ı́ntimas
(3): 575–591. transnacionales en la región noreste. Se explora
Winichakul, T. (2010) Coming to terms with the West: cómo los espacios particulares donde se estable-
intellectual strategies of bifurcation and post-Western- cieron afectaron las capacidades de estos emi-
ism in Siam, in Harrison, R.V. and Jackson, P.A. (eds) grantes para llevar a cabo lo que veı́an como
The Ambiguous Allure of the West: Traces of the masculinidades hegemónicas a medida que
Colonial in Thailand. Hong Kong: Hong Kong pasaba el tiempo. Se encontró que inicialmente
University Press, pp. 135–151. experimentaron un aumento de estado social, el
Zelizer, V.A. (2000) The purchase of intimacy, Law and cual fueron capaces de convertir en un recurso
Social Inquiry 25(3): 817–848. útil en relaciones amorosas, permitiéndoles
448 Kristen Hill Maher & Megan Lafferty

posicionarse como ‘proveedores’ y ‘hombres con el capital transnacional. Las formas en que
blancos verdaderos’, sobre la base de ideales estos ejemplos difieren con estudios existentes
masculinos de sus paı́ses de origen, ası́ como ponen de manifiesto la importancia de los
también de un disperso imaginario neocolonial. A espacios particulares de asentamiento de emi-
la larga, sin embargo, estas construcciones de grantes y de las dimensiones temporales para el
identidad fueron objeto de contradicciones inter- análisis de las masculinidades de los mismos.
nas y de profundo desgaste. Estuvieron también
ligadas al lugar, creando obstáculos tanto Palabras claves: masculinidad, migración, expatria-
financieros como sociales a la hora de regresar dos, Tailandia, blancura, relaciones transnacio-
al hogar, sobre todo para aquellos sin vı́nculos nales.
Copyright of Social & Cultural Geography is the property of Routledge and its content may
not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's
express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for
individual use.