So I was last in Chiang Mai in 1997 or 1998 I think. Tourists were here but not in huge numbers. Even less so in the north at Mae Sae when I illegally crossed the border into Burma and got into a spot of bother.

Well now the tourists are here and the sleepy northern town ain’t so sleepy anymore. Among the tourists have come one of my most hated groups – sex tourists. Mostly creepy old men from Australia, the UK, Germany and the US. You can spot them straight away – sitting alone in bars or with small groups of very young Thai women clustered around their tables. The men with that look that says “I’m going to fuck some teenager tonight for the price of a cheap meal back home.”

I had heard the northern cities had them in abundance. Apparently, Northern women aren’t as pretty as those in the South but they are cheaper. More bang for your buck. From what I have seen the creepy old men make up about 50% of the tourists here; though that could be the season as it’s cheap to travel this time of year.

And the open prostitution is just the surface. Some of these creepy old men will like their partners young – children. The paedophiles are always there; lurking just below the surface. And there are always scum that will procure those children for them.

It sickens my stomach to watch these people. Their behaviour and exploitation makes me ashamed to be a man. And in the case of the paedophiles it is one of the few times I question my opposition to the death penalty.