The Pattaya Sex Bubble

Jan Hoek travelled to Pattaya, Thailand’s sex capital, to make ten different magazines in which a cast of unusual characters plays out strange narratives and suggests seedy encounters. Through photo collages, scribbled drawings, short stories, conversations, handwritten diary entries, water-damaged photographs, and grainy portraits, a picture emerges of Hoek’s light and humorous creative efforts as a foreigner in a far away place that caters to the sex industry. Transgender prostitutes known as “lady boys” are his main protagonists, with whom he builds personal relationships and has various adventures, like trying out a mermaid costume, or visiting a wax museum. 10 stapled zines.