Doi Boy

Watched Thailand's 2023 Doi Boy (1:38:40), about a refugee from Myanmar who becomes a male prostitute in Chiang Mai, his hooker girlfriend, his policeman boyfriend, the policeman's wife, and two, gay activists who attempt to expose corruption among high-level officials. The movie is perplexing because, at its core, it addresses the human-trafficking issue in Myanmar--and only incidentally has gay characters, who didn't have to be gay to carry the story through in the first place. In the last analysis, the movie has nothing to do with being gay or with gay relationships, especially after it misleadingly opens with a variety of carnal scenes set in Doi Boy Club.   

There are, nonetheless, many lovely shots in this movie. It features life in Thailand at the height of the CoVID pandemic and the difficulty of holding on to stable jobs. On the downside, it is one of those "gay" movies that bring down gayness to the level of male prostitution. The fact is, it is difficult to sympathize with male characters who choose to become sex workers for want of a better and decent occupation, and it is all too easy to perceive them as lazy bums who could have preferred other kinds of work with higher moral standards.