Transsexuals in Thailand – why are they so popular?

Thailand is known as the sex tourism capital of the world. This prejudice is so strong that some people look upon lovers or couples who go there almost as perverts. In fact, the satisfaction of exotic carnal needs is only a part, and a very small one, of the whole tourist industry in this country. There you can spend your honeymoon, and relax among the tropical nature, forgetting that there is civilization. But if you like it hotter, you should go first to Pattaya on Wolkin Street or Beach Road. Transsexuals (transsexuals), transvestites, katoys or ladyboys in Thailand are most often found there. But first let’s look at these terms.

“WHAT ARE YOU?”

• Transgender people are people who feel as if they were born in someone else’s body. For example, having the appearance of a man, they have the mentality of a woman and behave accordingly.
• Transvestites are, as in the rest of the world, ordinary men who wear women’s clothes and copy their behavior. This may be due to their professional duties. For example, they are actors in racy shows. However, only five percent of them are committed to same-sex love – gay.
• Transsexuals (transsexuals) are transgender people who have made attempts to physically remove their psychological mismatch. Transsexuals in Thailand are more common than in Europe, for the reason that less bureaucracy is required for sex reassignment surgery.
• Katoi or Ladyboys are the name for transvestites and transsexuals (transsexuals) in Thailand.

HISTORY AND REASONS FOR GENDER REASSIGNMENT

The reason why there are many transsexuals in Thailand is not so much the wide spread of semi-underground clinics and the tolerance of society, but rather the business tradition that arose in the mid-20th century due to the American Air Force based in Pattaya. The brave pilots needed plenty of young prostitutes and entertainment on the brink of a foul. To make matters worse they were paid not in dollars but in checks, which were used only in Thailand and Vietnam. In a poor country with a predominantly rural population, such body transformations became a profitable enterprise, and families who were able to transform boys into girls began to live quite decently. No one knows exactly how many trannies there are in Thailand today; their numbers are only approximate, since they remain men to the law. According to official statistics, there are about 10 thousand of them. Tour operators interested in this subject, the number up to 200 thousand, although for a country with a population of 67 million people – this is clearly too much.

The sex tourism industry in Thailand, including shows of varying degrees of promiscuity, is entirely in private hands and is in no small part criminalized. Indeed, there are cases where parents decide the fate of a child even at birth, enter into an agreement with criminals and sell him at the age of 14. The popularity of body transformations is also spurred on by the problems of male employment, who, especially in poor provinces, have no choice but to go to the rice paddies. Few lucky men get into the army. However, a full sex change operation costs up to 30 thousand dollars, therefore the changes are usually limited to external features such as change of the shape of cheekbones and buttocks, and breast formations (both surgically and by taking hormonal drugs).

Most of the katoe men, who only look like women, work in Go-Go bars. A lucky few manage to get a job in a cabaret like Alcazar or Tiffany’s in Pattaya. Many of them also star in pornographic films. If a career in the sex industry, as they say, did not work out, then the katohai of Thailand go to work in traditionally female positions. Usually they are service personnel in restaurants, cafes, beauty salons. Those with a minor degree of body transformation may be allowed to enter the annual lottery held during the army draft.

Nowadays, people of the “third sex” have become quite commonplace in Thailand. Among transgender people there are popular models, singers, and movie stars. One of them is a Thai boxing champion Nong Tum (Parinya Charoenphol) who was inclined to change his gender since childhood and who finally changed his sex in 2006 at the age of 25. And the reason for starting kickboxing was a desire to earn money for sex reassignment surgery. Oh, bad luck for a farang who met a transsexual fighter.

THAI ATTITUDES TOWARD TRANSSEXUALS

Buddhism, the state religion of Thailand, does not classify such attraction of the human psyche and behavior as a sin. The reason for this tolerance is reincarnation – rebirth after death. The Thais believe that a man’s desire to become a woman is the Buddha’s punishment for the sins that transsexuals have committed in their past lives. That is why it was not uncommon in the past for “wrong” boys to be expelled from their families. All Catholics in Thailand officially remain the same sex as they were born, but the passport is stamped with “กะเทย” indicating a third gender and a second photograph is affixed.

Now, in a wave of growing tolerance, transsexuals are even called to participate in the annual Thai army draft lottery. And if they get a red card, they serve on a common basis. Before 1954, though, Catholics were considered mentally incompetent and were exempt from service, regardless of the degree of body modification.

THE MAIN THING IS TO KNOW HOW TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A THAI GIRL AND A TRANNY.

For those who do not know how to distinguish a tranny from a Thai woman, when you see a very pretty girl, you need to be wary. Especially if the amount of drunk Thai alcohol exceeds the amount eaten. The katoys sometimes behave more feminine and look more attractive than the straight girls. Because of this, they are ironically called women of the highest grade in Thailand. If an embarrassment occurs, try to get out of it with less fuss. Especially since ladyboys can have an explosive temperament, which is caused by taking hormones, and a truly masculine strength.