Livening Up Thailand's Landscape?

In my whoring days I was often slightly reluctant to take boys back to my hotel. So if near Soi Twilight I'd opt for the nearest short time rooms which were usually in the garage at the Suriwong Hotel across the road. Basic furnishing with a large bed, a TV and a bathrooom with a full somewhat narrow bath with a shower - athough I could never imagine anyone intent on sex wanting to have a bath. But they fulfilled their function and were cheap.

Having spent a small part of my career working in Tokyo and visited at least another 50 or so times, I got used to the much more common "Love Hotels" which are dotted all over the country. It is estimated that there are some 37,000 of them! With homes in Japanese towns and cities generally being small and packed very closely together, privacy is generally not something the Japanese expect or seek. But where to enjoy an intimate session, perhaps with all manner of moans, groans and shrieks with your loved one - be it boyfriend, girlfriend, wife or just lover? Thus during the Edo period was the concept of what has become the love hotel born. Who living in Tokyo is not aware of Dogenzaka, roughly translated as Love Hill, in Tokyo's trendy Shibuya district? An entire narrow street filled with all manner of love hotels each decorated uniquely, some with circular rotating beds, some with SM equipment - you name it, you are likely to find it. The great thing for Japanese, especially for couples who may have reasons for not wishing to be seen together, is that you rarely see any actual people in these hotels. If you drive, you take the lift to an automated reception area, get your key pass and then go to the room. Entering on foot, if there happens to be a receptionist, theere will be a wall so he/she can not see anything more than your midriff!

And love hotels are not confimed to cities. Anyone taking the airport limousine bus from Narita to the city will pass by at least three located virtually in open countryside that I can recall. Outside cities, they tend to be externally more flamboyant, more garish and more obvious. Whereas I have seen love hotels in Hong Kong which seem to go to great lengths to remain inconspicuous, in Japan the more obvious the better.  

I was reminded of this today in a fascinating illustrated article in The Guardian. It's titled, "WE'RE HAVING SEX INSIDE MOBY DICK! THE WILD ARCHITECTURAL WORLD OF JAPAN'S LOVE HOTELS. And immediately below we see a photo of the leviathan with its teeth waiting to open and welcome you!

I have often wondered, though: is having sex in something like a whale supposed to make you feel even more horny?

Love Hotels is the title of a new book of that name by French photographer François Prost. “I find love hotels culturally fascinating,” says Prost . . . Japan is generally a fairly conservative society, but these are places of escapism, fantasy and almost childlike wonder. And you find them everywhere.” He recently made a 3,000 km journey around Japan to photograph some of the more obvious as well as some of the more bizarre examples. I include a few photos from the article below. 

Hotel UFO in Chiba Prefecture half way between Narita and Tokyo

Hotel Flower Style in Nara near Kyoto

Hotel Sea Stork near Tokyo

You'll note Godzilla making an appearance near the top. The Japanese are mad about Godzilla. There is even a hotel where I once stayed in Tokyo's Kabukicho disrict with a huge Godzilla staring down at the street below.

What do you reckon a developer might think of putting a whale in the middle of Silom? It would make a pleasant change from the monsters of nearby Bangkok One!

All photos by François Prost

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/may/05/japan-love-hotels-moby-dick-ufos