Without wishing to labour the point overly, I have a major problem with this line of thinking.
I've never discussed, much less denied, what my priorities are when I go to Thailand or anywhere else. My problem is this Western obsession with pinning a label on everybody and everything.
If you do some research, just google it, on the phrase 'sex tourist' you will find that around half the articles are to do with people charged with child abuse.
The perception of a 'sex tourist' in this country is of a nasty old man with jam-jar glasses, a plastic bag full of porno and a long coat wanking himself off in front of a webcam and fantasising about the day he can 'pull' a 12 year old for real.
It's a phrase peddled by moral crusaders who don't want a discussion about what a decent guy you are and how well you treat girls. You hold your hand up and give it the big 'yeah me, I'm a sex tourist' and you go in the same box as Gary Glitter and every other sicko that you found on google.
It's not about being straight up in regard to your priorities. Every tabloid journalist that has turned up in Patong has been a pr1ck: they lie, misquote and stitch people up at the drop of a hat. They don't want the truth, they want to hang you out to dry, if you want to make their job easy then go ahead.
If anybody asks me if I am a sex tourist I consider it a loaded question; the person who has asked it already has a perception of what that means and wishes to label me in the same way.
I get asked a lot about my reasons for visiting Thailand, and my answer is generally the same. I like the women, the cost of living, the climate, the food and the culture. Pretty much in that order. As far as I am concerned, people who have never been to Thailand, or journalists who have done their usual bottom feeding, have no right to an opinion on something they cannot possibly comprehend. Anybody who wants to have a pop at me while grasping at the moral high ground will get told to f**k off.