Phimosis - a tight foreskin causing pain during sex - has been raised on this board a number of times over the years, suggesting that it is a rather common affliction in Thailand. What has always struck me as strange is that these reported cases have invariably come to light in sex workers, which seems on the face of it a nearly impossible job for them.

Now I have discovered the condition in a young masseur working at a gay establishment in Bangkok. His strong reactions during sex clearly betray the intense pain that he is enduring, yet he denies it. So, do these people welcome the pain? Are they somehow addicted to it? Do they get an adrenaline rush from it, or what?

This latest case seems particularly inexplicable, because the young man in question - rather well-educated, judging from his correct use of English - claims to have thrown up a reasonable job with prospects in order to become a gay masseur. Obviously, he likes it! There seems to be something very odd going on here, doesn't there?

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