Transsexuals in Thailand – why are they so popular?

Thailand is reputed to be the sex tourism capital of the world. The prejudice is so strong that when couples or lovers go there some people see them 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’re a fan of hotter entertainment, you should go first to Pattaya on the streets of Walkin Street or Beach Road. Transsexuals (transsexuals), transvestites, katoys or ladyboys in Thailand are most common there. But first let’s look at these terms.

Transsexual Treechada

Treechada “Poyd” Petcharat is considered the most beautiful ladyboy in Thailand, works as an actress, and was listed as one of the “most beautiful faces” in the world by American film journalist TC Candler

“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. At the same time, only five percent of them are gay, same-sex lovers.
  • Transsexuals (transsexuals) are transgender people who have made attempts to physically remove their psychological mismatch. Transgender people in Thailand are more common than in Europe for the reason that less bureaucracy is required for gender reassignment surgeries.
  • Transgender people in Thailand are more common than in Europe.
    Katoey or Ladyboys.

Transsexual Patta

Patta “Nadia” Wiruntanaki – gained fame after winning Thailand’s 2015 trans “Miss Mimosa” contest

History and reasons for gender reassignment

The reason there are many transgender people in Thailand is not so much the widespread presence of semi-underground clinics and public tolerance, but the business tradition that arose in the mid-20th century with the American Air Force based in Pattaya. The brave pilots needed a lot 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 the subject bring the number up to 200 thousand, although for a country with a population of 67 million people – it is clearly too much.

Transsexual Chalisa

Chalisa “Rose” Yuemchai played a role in the Chinese comedy “Adventures in Thailand,” causing her to gain thousands of fans from China.

The sphere of sex tourism in Thailand, including shows of varying degrees of liberation of artists, is entirely in private hands and 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 the child 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 $30,000, so changes are usually limited to external features – changing the shape of cheekbones, buttocks, breast design (both surgically and by taking hormonal drugs).

Most of the male Katos, who only look like women, work in Go-Go bars. A lucky few manage to get a job in cabarets like “Alcazar” or “Tiffany” in Pattaya. A lot of them also star in porn movies. If a career in the sex industry, as they say, did not go, then the katoys of Thailand go to work in traditionally female positions. Usually they are service personnel in restaurants, cafes, beauty salons. Those with little body transformation may be allowed to enter the annual lottery held during the army draft.

Transsexual Woranun

Woranun “Frame” Nalatworasakul – participated in a military project and was released from the army, then created a series of short films “Crazy Love”

Today, people of the “third gender” 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 behavior since childhood and who finally switched genders in 2006 at the age of 25. And the reason for starting kickboxing was a desire to earn money for gender reassignment surgery. Oh, bad luck for the Farang fighter who met a transsexual fighter.

Transsexual Rinrada

Rinrada “Yoshi” Thurapan is known for her “doll face” on social media, she has also appeared in a music video for Baitoey Rsiam, a popular Thai singer and has had several movie roles

Thai attitudes toward transsexuals

Buddhism, the state religion of Thailand, does not classify such attractions of the human psyche and behavior as 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 people of the same gender they were assigned at birth, but a note “กะเทย” is put in the passport indicating the third gender and a second photo is affixed.

Transsexual Chananchida

Chananchida “Blossom” Rungpetcharat – gained fans and won hearts by taking second place in the Miss Tiffany 2013 trans competition

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

The Chinese Army.Transsexual Jiratchaya

Jiratchaya “Mo” Sirimongkolnawin – won Miss Tiffany in 2016 and then Miss International Queen, an international beauty pageant for trans people where she represented Thailand.

To those who don’t know how to tell a tranny from a Thai woman, you have to be careful when you see a really pretty girl. 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 “superwomen” 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 power.

Transsexual Pemika

Pemika “Pynk” Ditsayamethanont – gained fame after becoming a model for a surgical clinic in South Korea, she looks like she came out of a Japanese anime.

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