Just remember the golden rule.  He who has the gold makes the rules!

 Let's just say that the rich can afford to go to the beach or to affluent resorts. Whereas, people who are making ends meet barely have time to go to the beach. Also thong swimsuits are more expensive than regular swimsuits. So I'd say the rich can afford to buy more thong swimsuits. 

 As far as if the rich and famous are more likely to wear things, it just an observation not based on any kind of fact. The women more than likely would be more apt to wear a thong. As far as the men go my hunch is that they are still complying to society norms. 
Definitely the hotels that cater to the affluent are likely to allow thinking. My suspicion is that there is too much $$ to loose if they don't.
Just my min factual observation lol :)

 So interesting to consider,  the price of thongs, the dimension of socioeconomic status, and resurgence of thonging by internet shopping.  I speak to the economic barriers that prevent access to men's swim thongs:1) Price of quality thongs (varies , but roughly < $20) compared to briefs  (stylish ones costing from $30 to $120+) and compared to board shorts  ($10-$20+).  I think the pricing affects access of thongs to those that may be economically incapable of enjoying thong swimwear/underwear.  Times have changed in terms of the internet and access to shopping through smart phones.  88+% of the entire world will have smart phone access by 2022, by the way.
2)  On that same line, people with no or limited access to the internet or online shoppimg will have to overcome this to gain access to majority of thong shopping.  This bars them direct access to info and access to thongs.
3)  Societal bias against men conforming to minimal swimwear additionally stigmatizes the process.  If I was to go seek public internet access to use the Thongboard, I would struggle aa it is a widely stigmatized issue, and prevents young or new thongers from getting started.
So if you are Rich and Famous, it would be easy to go for. However, in terms of the pressure to build an outward image, I think that branding is another issue  preventing visibility of thonging.

Not in Australia. An overriding principle here is that with regard to wealth everyone is equal at the beach. Indeed, studies have shown that this is a reason why the beach is so popular. With regard to hotels and resorts, I've found the larger ones are more thong tolerant, but this is due to the more remote management style rather than client affluence. 

 ChadiusRex -- I  read in a magazine (Time?) at the doctor's office that 50% of the people in the world have never used a telephone!  Now I doubt if many of these people even have an interest in wearing popular swimwear styles.  Their society, if aware of swimwear differences at all, probably has no rules about what is proper or not.  And money they might have is more likely in items they barter and used for food and other essentials for life.

But, I do agree with your general concept (as I understand it).  People with access to the internet have a "leg up" on those without internet connectivity in buying thong swimwear.  This access would also let them purchase other types of swimwear with the same ease.  So if thong sales are growing on the internet, it is only reasonable to assume that those with internet connectivity are more likely to buy thongs than other swimwear online.  But is this because thongs are readily available online, while not as available in traditional "brick and mortar" stores, or is it that the thong sales online are popular because online is about the only place some can get thong swimwear?  And how many people own a single thong swimsuit compared to people having only a single full-back bikini or men's Speedo.

So this all being taken into account, I think it is fair to say that ChadiusRex is correct in saying that those with interent connections are more likely to be affluent and also more likely to purchase thongs, even when considering other variables, some of which I mentioned above.

 I think the more affluent are more likely to wear thongs because they have more access to places where thongs are permitted and/or acceptable.  The "rich" are more likely to travel, and some of these travels might include places overseas or on beach fronts where thongs are more common.  The rich are more likely to live in neighborhoods where they might have a pool, or at least a nice sunning deck, and at home, thongs might be more popular for tanning, etc., especially when it is not practical or possible to fully screen the sunning or swim area from the view of others.  Since neighborhoods generally have similar neighbors, it is more likely that neighbors will also be thongers than might be common in other less-affluent areas, so being seen in a thong by a neighbor might not be as big of an issue nor would seeing a neighbor in a thong.

What would be interesting would be to see if thong swimwear was also more likely on people who lived in resort communities for example.  In smaller communities, there might be both upper and lower class people, and it would be interesting to know if seeing others in thongs around the town and on the beaches and boating would make these people also choose thongs as part of their swimwear collection.

 @ithongit,
I agree with your anecdotal analysis, but offer factual evidence on cell phone use.  (And not to get sidethongged into other conversation) One source is the 2017 Ericsson Wireless Report.  As of 2017 current smart phone access is slightly above 50%.  If current population trends (UN), over 80% will have coverage by 2022, with the majority of new users coming from developing nations.  I was simply using this model to justify the potential closing of the "smart-phone gap".  I think you add many vaild points.
I agree with your second comments on access, the affluent likely have the ability to have a private pool or thonging destination.   Locals in developing nations where many of these resorts are located may be disdainful towards thongs as a symbol of status.  Equally, my opportunity to have access to these thongs and the decision to chose to wear them or not, should be considered. I think introducing them would be a way to begin breaking down some of these stigmas.  How do we break these stigmas when thongers face adversity when trying to face our own stigmas being in public?  Is that something the affluent can easily face or compromise?

 ChaddiusRex -- first, sorry for spelling your handle wrong.  As far at the thing about percentage of phone users go, I did not say this to challenge your statements about cell phone future use or the source of your information.  My source may have been a bit outdated (a year or two) because, after all it was a doctor's waiting room magazine, and these are often fairly old.  I did go online and found the 50% claim seems to have been first mentioned in 1995, and by 2002, the number had decreased to an estimated 37% or so.  So the accuracy of my statement is probably not iron clad, even if reported by Time(?).  Where I was going instead, was I was trying to highlight the fact that the cell phone industry is growing at an unprecedented rate, and if half the people in the world have never even used a phone, and in five years, 88% + will have access to phones, this is a tremendous change in the abilities of people in the world to communicate with each other.

Smart phones and internet access through them or other computer networks might let those in the developing countries see thongs in other cultures (USA or Brazil or wherever) and this might influence them to make their own thong swimsuits -- perhaps from scraps of material from other projects.  So as I think about it more, the increased access to smart phones might even cause home-made thongs or thongs made by cottage industries in underdeveloped countries  more likely to be made, and their acceptance more universal, since objections seem to be mostly political or religious in nature.

As far as cell phone use goes, (or the number of other phones available) there are a few terms that I think we need to keep in mind.  First, having access to a network does not mean that people will use it.  Even having access to a phone may not mean people will use it.  There also is the way cell phones (or in the 50% of people have never used a phone statistic) are distributed and accounted for.  For example my father has five  cell phones numbers.  He has three phones total, one is for work, one is for personal use, one he keeps in the car for emergencies.  He then has an alarm system at his office and another at his home that use cell phone technologies and use up a phone number.  Other families I know of have 10 or more cell phones for a family of four people.  At the same time, there are families I know who still use land-line phone technology and have either no cell phones or only one for use when someone is away from home for an extended period or if the landline phones quit working.  A count of the number of actual phones in use is one thing, a count of the number of phone numbers in use is another, and a count of what portions of the world will have cell phone networks available is yet another, and a count of the number of people who actually have used a cell phone is another.  These statistics will become even harder to sort out as the number of phones, availability of services, and other factors change over the years.  50 years ago, nobody would have ever expected cell phones to be such a major part of communications, even if they thought such technology was a possibility.  No matter how these things are figured, there is an obvious conclusion -- cell phones and smart phone technologies are expanding almost exponentially, and as you accurately point out, this will certainly change the way things will happen in the future.

 I think the rich want to do what they want to do. They have enough funds to either tell people what will happen or go somewhere where they can do what they want. The only things they may consider to thong or not is people taking picture/videos and posting to whatever media. Wealthy women, not going to care much at all. Wealthy men, may not want to deal with the media commenters.