Thai Ad Campaign For Tourists Who Like Ladyboys

[pdogg]

You go on any Thailand forum and you'll see the acronym LOS.  Land of Smiles.

 

Thailand also has an ad campaign targeting the affluent gay and lesbian traveler called Go Thai Be Free

 

So if you were an adman what slogan would you use to attract guys who like ladyboys?

 

Ladyboys Rock My World

 

Ladyboys Rock My Ass

 

Ladyboys Do It Deeper

 

Now there's also the urban myth that up in Issan there is a secret government program to turn boys into ladyboys to promote tourism.

 

From today's New York Times:

 

 

Thais Cast a Wide Net for Diverse Tourists

By THOMAS FULLER

 

BANGKOK — Tolerance, the Thais have learned, is good for business.

 

In recent advertising and marketing campaigns, the government here in “the land of smiles” has actively gone after categories of tourists that for reasons of political sensitivity or outright discrimination are shunned in some neighboring countries.

 

It is the only Asian country, travel industry analysts say, that has a government-sponsored campaign — “Go Thai. Be Free.” — aimed at gay and lesbian travelers.

 

 

Among Thailand’s Southeast Asian neighbors — Brunei, Malaysia, Myanmar and Singapore — some or all forms of sexual contact between men are illegal, although the laws are loosely or selectively enforced. In Malaysia, the leader of the political opposition, Anwar Ibrahim, has been put on trial twice for sodomy — and twice acquitted.

 

In response to questions sent by e-mail, Malaysia’s tourism authority said it welcomed tourists “without any hesitation, regardless their sexuality.” But in the same e-mail, the tourism official, who gave her name only as Nadia, said, “Malaysia, as an Islamic country, is against the homosexuality.”

 

Thailand’s gay and lesbian campaign, which began two years ago from the Thai tourism promotion office in New York, features a Web site that offers advice to gay travelers, links to a gay travel blog and a promotional video that features gay couples traveling around Thailand and intones, “Go for the freedom.”

 

“Thailand welcomes the gay community,” says a message displayed at the end of the video.

 

“We go after the affluent gay traveler,” said Steve Johnson, a marketing manager who oversees the Thai government’s gay and lesbian campaign from its New York tourism office. Gay men and lesbians often have high levels of disposable income, he said.

 

There are no statistics on the number of gay travelers in Thailand, but a survey carried out by Boutique, a London-based agency specializing in gay marketing, rated Thailand as the “hottest destination” for 2013, ahead of the United States and Argentina, which were ranked second and third.

 

Uwern Jong, managing director of Boutique, said a conservative estimate for the value of gay tourism in Thailand last year was $1.6 billion. He pointed out that in February, in honor of Valentine’s Day, the immigration authorities established a faster lane for couples at Bangkok’s main international airport, Suvarnabhumi. The policy specifically included same-sex couples, he said.

 

At a bar on a small side street in Silom, a district of Bangkok that is popular with gay men, Alex Cross, an Australian gay traveler who came to Thailand with his partner, said he enjoyed visiting Thailand because “I feel there is no judgment here.”

 

“We’ve been to countries where it’s illegal to be gay,” Mr. Cross said. But in Thailand it is common to see gay couples, local and foreign, holding hands in shopping malls and other public places. “Here we can express ourselves,” he said. 

 

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/world/asia/thais-cast-a-wide-net-for-diverse-tourists.html?ref=todayspaper

[Hefe]

Argentina is #3 hottest destination?

 

I've been telling my friends here in the US for about 15 years that Buenos Aires is the best place to visit that they've never thought of going to, similar to visiting Europe but much cheaper & a very good looking populace (fair amount of tgs there too).

I think it gets overshadowed by its flamboyant neighbor Brazil.

 

I keep hearing more good things about Colombia these days.