Travels in the Skin Trade: Tourism and the Sex Industry [Paperback]

Jeremy Seabrook (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1996

Press coverage of the sex trade in Thailand routinely consists of moralizing and sensationalist denunciations of this infamous "industry". Through the words of sex workers, performers, and all those who provide services within the sex industry - and their clients - this book poses some controversial questions: who are the real beggars - those who sell their bodies for derisory amounts of money, or those who travel halfway around the world for the sake of experiences not available at home?; how do the sex industry workers really feel about what they do, and what sort of regulation/control of the industry do they want and need? Their answers - sometimes surprising, often both shocking and moving - explain the cultural, economic and social pressures which lead young men and women to offer their bodies on the open tourist market.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for the first edition:

‘Jeremy Seabrook is one of England’s most imaginative and creative writers, with a preacher’s talent for prophesy and a capacity for righteous indignation reminiscent of George Orwell.’ --Richard Gott, The Guardian

 

'It raises questions about the rights of Thai women and children and the expectations of the men who travel to the country for this service. Finally it encourages a more wide-reaching understanding of basic human rights and considers the problematic relationship between North and South.' --Oxfam Review of Journals

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Jeremy Seabrook is a well-known journalist and writer. He is a frequent contributor to, amongst others, New Society, New Statesman, the Guardian and the Independent. and the the author of Children of Other Worlds, (Pluto Press, April 2001), Notes from Another India (Pluto Press, 1994), Victims of Development (Verso, 1994), and co-author (with Trevor Blackwell) of The Revolt Against Change (Vintage, 1994). He has written widely on aspects of social injustice, from housing to workers in the sex trade.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Pluto Pr (December 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0745311164
• ISBN-13: 978-0745311166
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,454,122 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A sensitive, revealing look at the seamier side of tourism, February 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Travels in the Skin Trade: Tourism and the Sex Industry (Paperback)

Studs Terkel-style, Seabrook presents interviews, recorded and transcribed, with both sex workers and their mostly male clients in Bangkok, Thailand. This powerful volume peruses the commodification of sexuality, the sex trade, through the eyes and voices of the men who tramp the sex markets--the bars and brothels--and the women, men and children who service them. Also, addressed are a variety of related topics, including the global economy and developing countries, sociocultural costs of economic development, organized sex tours and agencies, human rights, children's rights, and HIV / AIDS. A highly readable travelogue, recommended for tourists, travel agents, and anyone interested in this controversial and sordid subject.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars this book is good, April 13, 2001

By 

doris (norfolk, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Travels in the Skin Trade: Tourism and the Sex Industry (Hardcover)

this book is very informative and blows the lid off the illusion of paradise that thailand is perceived by many to be. the real truth of the relationships between the prostitutes and the "farangs" is exposed in detail. if you want to know why men seek out these prostitutes, how long the relationships last, why the prostitutes treat the johns as they do, and if you want to understand the miscommunication and false feelings that go on between john and prostitute, this is the book to read. the harsh reality of thailand is exposed.

13 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not much new here, December 16, 2001

By 

"tom808" (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Travels in the Skin Trade: Tourism and the Sex Industry (Paperback)

This volume is interchangeable with any number of of other sociological tomes. The author tries to depict a cross section of aging customers, some human slaves working in debt bondage after being sold (often by their parents) to a brothel.some of the helping organizations-but it doesn't hold together very well as a book unless you have been living on another planet of late. The inclusion of sex in the title is somewhat misleading as this could just as easily be about poor Pakistanis in slavery to brick kilns.