Paleface does southeast Asia. Dimensions of sexual tourism

Sex tourism has recently become one important topic in tourism research. Many authors discuss its expansion in Southeast Asia, significantly in Thailand. A sizeable number of researchers think that it reflects another facet of the international division of labor induced by capitalist development. This strategy has been consistently pursued by local governments and international agencies. Others see in sex tourism a new form of symbolic subjection of the Orient. This paper discusses those two points of view and concludes that prostitution in the area needs broader vistas including local family structures and cultural traditions.