Wilke M, Kleiber D; International Conference on AIDS.
Int Conf AIDS. 1992 Jul 19-24; 8: D426 (abstract no. PoD 5239).
Sozialpaedagogisches Institut Berlin, Germany.
OBJECTIVES: Global mobility and travel are increasingly receiving blame for the rapid international spread of HIV. In particular, the so-called sex tourism in countries of the Third World repeatedly makes headlines, but has yet to be sufficiently studied. An investigation of the behavior of German tourists who have sexual contacts (primarily on a commercial basis) with men and women in destination countries of sex tourism is currently being conducted in several of these countries. One subgroup of the study is comprised of homosexually active tourists in Thailand. METHODS: More than one hundred male German tourists who had had sex with Thai men were interviewed in Thailand in January/February 1992. The men were questioned by means of a standardized survey on topics which included vacation, general outlook on life, sexuality in Thailand and Germany, AIDS and STDs, and socio-demographics. RESULTS: Less than 30% of the tourists visited Thailand for the first time. A lot of them visit the country frequently with the intention of having sex with Thai men/boys. But only one in two describes himself as a sex-tourist. Compared with heterosexual sex-tourists gay travelers have a higher number of sex partners during their stay in Thailand. In many cases the men did not practice high risk sex. Less than 50% have insertive anal intercourse and 25% receptive anal intercourse. Compared with heterosexual men they used condoms more consistently. CONCLUSIONS: This study is presumably not representative of homosexual travelers on the whole, as the majority of those interviewed were paying for their sexual contacts with Thai men. Gay tourists who were not paying for sex are only scarcely represented. This is a result of the difficulty encountered in contacting the study participants. Contact with potential participants is most easily made in locations sought out mainly by male prostitutes and their customers. With respect to AIDS prevention the sexual behavior of homosexual tourists is significantly safer than that of heterosexual tourists, the former group taking greater care to avoid high-risk sexual practises. Especially for pedophiles, vacation in a country such as Thailand apparently provides what is often the only opportunity to realize these men's sexual desires.
Publication Types:
Keywords:
- Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
- Behavior
- Condoms
- Female
- Germany
- HIV Infections
- HIV Seropositivity
- Homosexuality, Male
- Humans
- Male
- Sexual Behavior
- Sexually Transmitted Diseases
- Thailand
- Unsafe Sex
Other ID:
UI: 102200459
From Meeting Abstracts