TOFS33 Dr. Thomas Baudinette - The Role of “Boys Love” Idols in Thai Tourism Campaigns

The Role of “Boys Love” Idols in Thai Tourism Campaigns:
Exploring a New Case Study for Contents Tourism Studies
Abstract:
Recent years have seen an explosion of “Boys Love” (BL) media in Thailand, which have developed international appeal due to their handsome male stars. Since 2020, popular idol couples from Thai BL series have been consistently appearing within tourism campaigns directed towards international fans, particularly in Japan. Within this presentation, I explore how both the affective practices central to BL fandom and the practice of utilising BL couples within Thai advertising campaigns - including the use of staged homoeroticism to generate affective attachments to advertised products- have been utilised to promote new forms of popular culture tourism. Significantly, I explore how Thai BL advertising produces new forms of emotional branding which tie fans’ affective responses to homoerotic content and idols’ star personas not only to touristic destinations, but also to Thai traditional culture. I conclude by reflecting on the potential limitations of such advertising campaigns from the perspective of tourism studies.
Hosted by: Hokkaido University, Center for Advanced Tourism Studies (CATS)
Date/Time: Friday 17 May 2024 | 18:00-19:30(JST)
Venue: Online (Zoom Webinar)
Language: English
Capacity: 50 persons
Participation fee: Free to join (pre-registration system)
Speaker: Dr. Thomas Baudinette
Bio:
Dr Thomas Baudinette is Senior Lecturer in Japanese and International Studies at Macquarie University, Australia. A cultural anthropologist, his research explores the role popular culture plays in shaping knowledge about gender and sexuality across East and Southeast Asia. His first book is Regimes of Desire: Young Gay Men, Media, and Masculinity in Tokyo (University of Michigan Press, 2021). His second book is Boys Love Media in Thailand: Celebrity, Fans, and Transnational Asian Queer Popular Culture (Bloomsbury, 2023). He recently completed the Academy of Korean Studies funded project “Exploring K-pop Fandom as a Space for LGBT Support in the Asia-Pacific During Pandemic Times” (AKS-2022-R033). Thomas is currently working on his third book, tentatively titled Queer Fantasies of Asia: Japanese and Korean Media Fandom in the Philippines. He regularly blogs about his research on his personal website: www.thomasbaudinette.com.
Moderator: Dr. Meng Qu

[@Ophidimancer]

What a wonderful lecture! I would definitely be interested in more talks from Dr Baudinette. Today I learned that I myself had participated in something called Content Tourism before I even knew that term. I happened to marry a man from Thailand long before I started watching BL so visiting was going to happen anyway, but during my last visit I made sure to visit sites that I had seen in my beloved BL series and even got to meet some actors!

[@JoseReyes-ov2tu]

As a fan of Thai BL, my main motivation to go to Thailand is to see the sights and locations where the series are filmed, to experience a bit of the daily life of our "idols" and to have the small chance of running into one of them. :)

[@JoseReyes-ov2tu]

I also think I am a good example of someone who has been impacted by Thai BL series and who now has more interest in Thailand in general. I have been learning the Thai abugida script, I am interested in learning Thai, and I even listen to news about Thailand, Thai politics, etc. So there is definitely an effect there. :)

[@Bldramasofficial]

I would say half the battle is getting people into Thailand. If they are doing it for a BL concert they are still there spending money into the Thai economy. Hotels, food, transportation, and maybe shopping and other entertainment. While there are events in Japan there is still a draw simply for the fact not all couples go to Japan and it isn't as often as those shows in Thailand.
It is also of note someone might travel to Thailand once to "see the sights" and then check the country off their list of places to visit. Yet a BL fan isn't going to see a place but an event or person. If you have seen one Tay/New concert doesn't mean you won't want to see the next one. You are more likely to have a repeat visitor in a BL fan as opposed to someone going to see the temples.
The other thing is mostly likely the most expensive part of their trip is the airfare. I would guess that there are more than a few people that go to Thailand for a BL event but will stay at least a few days. Guidebooks or videos with BL actors sponsoring activities or specific places much like sponsorships of products would be a good idea. GMMTV is aggressive in courting Japanese fans so work with them to sell those guidebooks at Japanese concerts or on their website. Place those ads on the youtube series instead of seaweed snacks 🤣
If you are just talking about tourism you don't have to have people love the culture but have people travel to your country and spend money.

[@embreis2257]

glad the YT algorithm recommended your video. atm, can't watch the whole 90mins but will look forward to learn if your research has found new insights into the phenomenon of BL. for most of its existence BL (especially in Japan apparently) was made and consumed predominantly by hetero young women. the more one boy was subjected to behaviour typically experienced by women [in toxic/abusive] relationships the more this content appealed to the target audience.
for the longest time watching/reading this kind of 'romantic' relationships didn't really translate into more tolerance towards queer people. on the contrary, many 'fans' still react quite toxic and intolerant once an actor deviates from their expectations or if earlier 'fanservice' turns out to be just a facade and not the real deal.
will be interesting to learn if the recent rise in popularity yielded some measurable results in society and the differences between countries. surely, a show like _Heroin/Addicted_ has a different impact on China compared to _Heartstopper_ in the [EU-]Europe/US.