ABSTRACT
Since the days of the Vietnam War Thailand, formerly known as Siam, has made an indelible imprint on the popular imagination of the West as home to a widespread and unrestrained sex industry. It was during that era that American G.I.s sought sexual pleasures in the towns around their Thai airbases and in the cities and beach resorts where they took their 'Rest and Recreation' ('R & R'). As a result, in addition to its common touristbrochure appellation as 'The Land of Smiles,' Thailand has become less flatteringly known as 'The Brothel of Asia,' its capital Bangkok earning the definition in the Longman Dictionary of English Language and Culture as 'a place where there are a lot of PROSTITUTES' (1992:79, emphasis in original). What I argue is that this dominant Western perception of Thailand is both reflected in and stimulates a particular flavour of media coverage of the country which in tum perpetuates pre-existing views: the attention of Western television documentaries on Thailand is more often than not turned to the theme of prostitution.
