WITH alluring promises of ‘showers of love’ and classes on how to ‘surrender in bed’, it is the sun-soaked holiday hotspot beloved by hippy Brits seeking sexual nirvana.
But beneath the surface, horrified insiders warn how this destination for ‘sacred eroticism’ has become a ‘Wild West’ for corruption and sexual abuse at the hands of self-styled love gurus, while cops turn a blind eye.
This week, the arrest of a Brit yoga teacher offering tantric sex classes for £10 a session shone a spotlight on the mysterious, spiritual corner of Thailand’s infamous sex tourism industry, which welcomes thousands of travellers each year.
Maria Shchetinina was detained by cops for not having a valid work permit, after being caught midway through a class put on behind a popular restaurant, it is claimed.
Tourist cops raided the restaurant in Koh Phangan – dubbed ‘Tantra Island’ for its string of erotic retreats – on November 4 after a tip-off from a Facebook user.
However, experts tell The Sun there are questions to be answered over why the 40-year-old has been made an example of, in a nation where sex sells for as little as £12 and tourists flock to seedy ‘b***job bars’.
Maria’s practice is among the countless spiritual ‘tantric’ retreats operating in Thailand, where erotic fulfilment is offered alongside yoga sessions and meditation.
A tantra course at the Sama Karuna retreat on Koh Phangan, which advertises ‘sacred hugs’ and ‘shower of love’ practices, costs around £700 for a week.
Meanwhile, the tantrathailandyoga site promises to teach week-long ‘sacred eroticism’ at its ‘tantra immersion’ classes near Chiang Mai for around £600 per couple.
Tripadvisor is full of various reviews for tantra courses from Brits, with one Londoner writing a retreat had “opened his heart” and another describing their experience as “inspirational.”
Some tourists appear to take things a little too far, with one couple just this week arrested in Koh Phangan for having sex in broad daylight near a waterfall in Koh Phangan.
But there are also those who warn of the darker side of the island’s ‘spirituality’.
The island where Maria was lifted by cops was at the centre of a tantric sex scandal in 2018 when yoga guru Swami Vivekananda Saraswati was accused of abusing women.
The Agama Yoga school launched an inquiry after 14 women and two men claimed that the retreat facilitated sexual assault, rape and misogynistic teachings, ‘brainwashing’ women into having sex with the Swami.
YouTuber and yoga teacher Joss posted a video in which she warned about ‘manipulative’ teachers.
She said: “I can’t tell you how many gurus or leaders completely overstep boundaries here and are highly manipulative.
“There have been reports of leaders sexually assaulting women…if you’re coming here to heal you are going to be vulnerable.”
Catherine Auman, a psychotherapist who has written books on the practice, told The Sun: “It’s an area open to abuse with the wrong people.
“There’s not as much abuse as you might imagine but there have been cases of male teachers having sex with their students.
“In places like Thailand prostitutes will sometimes describe themselves to be tantric, not that I’m suggesting in any way that this lady is a prostitute.
“The sessions attract a lot of vulnerable people and I can never understand why counselling isn’t offered alongside the practice.
“Anyone can set up as a tantric teacher and there needs to be more regulation around the profession. It’s a bit of a Wild West at the moment.
“I’d advise people to make sure the teacher they chose is reputable with a background in counselling or massage with good testimonials.”
‘Multi-orgasmic’ sessions
Cavorting in a lacy see-through dress and posing naked with another woman by a waterfall, Maria advertises herself online as an expert in tantric massage.
On her website, the 40-year-old claims “pleasure is your birthright” and promises clients they can become multi-orgasmic in her tantric sessions for couples and singles.
In slick adverts for her business, Maria – who goes by the name Maria Sky Love – is filmed floating on water before posing American Beauty-style with red roses.
She is also seen scantily-clad in black underwear touching the chest of a man dressed in just his undies.
On paper, her venture appears hugely successful, with glowing testimonials calling her courses “practical yet mystical” and a “beautiful journey of physical and emotional intimacy”.
Yet it was a simple flyer advertising weekly tantric sex sessions for 400 baht (£9.42) that landed her in hot water with the authorities.
Maria was arrested for not having a permit to work as a tantric teacher, despite having legal papers for a job as a ‘customer relations manager’ at a hotel.
She now faces being kicked out of the country.
Thailand’s sex explosion
THAILAND has become synonymous with sex tourism.
Its saucy reputation first grew in the 1960s and 70s when American troops on leave from the Vietnam War went looking for love.
During this period, the number of prostitutes in the country increased from an estimated 20,000 to 500,000 by 1972.
Another boom came in the 1980s when the Thai government ploughed millions into promoting tourism in the country.
According to the End Slavery Now charity, someone soliciting sex can expect a fine of around £23 while pimps can be imprisoned up to 10 years.
However, prostitution is widely accepted as a way of making money and sex parlours hide behind the screen of respectable massage houses.
Maria’s blatant advertising appears to have upset locals who reported her to Thai authorities amid a crackdown on undocumented foreign workers.
Police footage shows the moment local cops stormed the Ethos restaurant, following investigations into the allegedly ‘sexually indecent’ yoga classes.
One expert claims Maria could be a victim of corrupt Thai cops happy to turn a blind eye to sex tourism – so long as they are given a cut.
Ronald Weitzer, author of the book Sex Tourism in Thailand, described Maria’s case as “very curious.”
He said: “Had this been a Thai tantric teacher I don’t think she would have been arrested.
“There is a lot of corruption among the police in Thailand who take payments from many massage parlours and small businesses.
“Perhaps Maria wasn’t aware of this and hadn’t built up a relationship with the police.
“The Thai authorities are having a crackdown on foreign workers and closing down sex parlours with Cambodian and Vietnamese workers. They wouldn’t have known what tantric sex even is and would have just seen the word sex.
“Posing in a topless picture and advertising her business freely would have made this lady easy for the police to find.”
Dr Erin Sanders-McDonagh, a criminology expert at the University of Kent, who has researched sex tourism, says: “The sex industry is heavily stigmatised for Thai people so I’m not surprised that local people complained about the advertising.
“It’s a country which has a huge sex industry but when I was over there in 2006 the first TV kiss – a peck on the lips – made national headlines for being risqué. Thai couples don’t even hold hands in public.
“People aren’t ignorant of what goes on but to advertise something like tantric sessions would be deeply problematic.
“It’s interesting that this lady has been arrested on visa charges rather than anything relating to her sessions, which local society will be deeply concerned about.
“The authorities have found a way to arrest her without mentioning the word sex.”
Massage parlours & ladyboy bars
In recent years, Thailand has become a magnet for Brits hunting for sexual thrills.
Pattaya, on the country’s eastern Gulf coast, is known as the world’s number one sex tourist destination with hundreds of go-go bars, massage parlours, brothers and ladyboy bars – and the city has been dubbed the ‘porn version of Disneyland’.
However, Koh Phangan has a different reputation, known more as a ‘hippy paradise’ that attracts people who want to live bohemian lifestyles.
It’s famous for its full-moon parties and all-night raves held on Haad Rin Beach. The events pull in thousands of tourists every month.
British tantric teacher Natalie Abraham, who lives in Koh Phangan, says tantric practices are not just about sex.
She said: “The translation of the word tantra is weaving in that you are weaving together everything that has been separated, the masculine and feminine, the heart and mind and the body, the light and dark.
“Sex is just one per cent of tantra. It’s more a lifestyle – a way of living, being connected to every moment of your life inside and outside the bedroom.”
Natalie, 43, from North London, says she has worked with Hollywood stars and earlier this year was flown home by a couple who wanted her to help their relationship.
She agrees that sessions are open to abuse by the wrong people and says Brits have to trust their instincts when it comes to choosing a teacher.
She said: “To be a sexual healer of any kind, it’s a grey area between what’s right and what’s wrong. If you find yourself in a space where you feel something is off you need to trust that instinct.”