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Ladyboys of Phuket

When I first told my friends that I waswas  this  army  of  available  ladyboys?
planning an extended stay in Thailand, it is
amazing how many times I heard the sameAt Soi Katoey in Bangla Road, Patong, there
stupid reply - "watch out for them ladyboys!"are always a few dancing at the front of the
Again and again, I heard this inane commentsoi. There is another katoey bar at the back
until it really started to grate. Everybodyand Moulin Rouge ladyboy show. But surely
making the same stupid joke as if it waseven at the highest estimate, there could not
clever and original. What a ridiculousbe more than 50 ladyboys working in Soi
stereotype of Thailand, I thought. As ifKatoey. There are maybe another 30 performing
there  are  ladyboys  everywhere  you  go.at Simon Cabaret Ladyboy Show - does that
even count as the sex industry? For the sake
The funny thing is, once I moved to Thailand,of argument, let's say it does. Then there is
I soon discovered that ladyboys, or katoeysthe gay area around Soi Paradise. There are
as they are known in Thailand, really arequite a few ladyboys around this area but I
everywhere. It is not just a handful of themthink an estimate of 100 would be very
working the tourist resorts. You will seegenerous.
them working in shops and restaurants. Even
if you go out into the country, you will findThere are a few ladyboys freelancing along
katoeys.  They  really  are  everywhere.the beachfronts where they annoy passing
drunks. But really, they are not there in
In fact, I had not been here long before Ivery high numbers. Let's be generous again
had a personal acquaintance who was a katoey.and say 100. Have I missed any? Maybe there
One of the things I noticed was just howare a few dotted around other sex
comfortable other Thais were in her company.establishments.
Straight Thai men were quite happy to give
her compliments such as telling her howSo even if we round up my figures, we have a
beautiful she looked. They all called hervery generous guesstimate of 300 ladyboys
'she'  as  it  is  polite and made her happy.active in the sex industry. I actually think
that is probably extremely generous. A lot of
Personally, I was initially a littlethe above figures are probably the same
uncomfortable in her presence. I wasn'tkatoeys moving from location to location and
scared she would jump on me. She was aI think I have overestimated all my guesses.
pleasant and well-balanced person. I was justThe  total  figure  could  be  as few as 100.
a little unsure how to deal with her. It was
the charming way the other Thais treated herSo I would say somewhere between 100-300
that  soon  put  me  at  ease.katoeys working in Phuket's sex industry.
Certainly not 5,000 but then a figure of 100
What  is  a  Katoey?would  not  make  good  press.
What exactly is a katoey? I had thisMen  and  Katoeys
discussion with a couple of western friends
recently. They both live in Phuket and bothSo what about the demand for Katoeys? Are
said that you can only call someone a katoeythere really lots of men looking for their
if they have had gender altering surgery;services? Since their most common approach
otherwise, you should use the term ladyboy.seems to be trying to fool very drunk men, I
This I feel is a western inventedwould guess that their services are not
distinction. Katoey is a Thai word and thatmassively in demand. I have met a few men who
is  not  how  it  is  used.have had sexual encounters with katoeys. Most
of  them  claim  it  was  a  drunken mistake.
Thais use the term much more loosely. They
use the term for any man who acts like aI did meet one guy who happily proclaimed he
woman. Transgender male is probably thehad just been 'blown off' by two katoeys in
closest English term. Men who have genderhis hotel room. He was rather proud of
altering surgery are katoeys. So are thosehimself and certainly not claiming it was a
who take hormones to create female attributesmistake. You do meet some funny characters in
such as breasts. So are those who dress upPatong.
like a woman. In fact, even gay men who put
on a bit of make up and flounce around areI guess there is some genuine demand for
referred  to  as  katoeys.katoeys. Although they are active in the gay
area, I do not think it is strictly a gay
Why  so  many  Katoeys  in  Thailand?thing. Although they are made-up as women, I
do not think it is a straight thing. But
By this definition, there certainly arethere is a hard-to-define group of men who do
plenty of katoeys in Thailand. So why is thisfind katoeys attractive. Certainly, there is
phenomenon so much more common here than ina lot of curiosity about them. Every month,
other countries? It seems unlikely that therethe word 'katoey' is in the top 20 list of
is a genetic reason for Thailand to have moresearch keywords that have led people to our
transgender males than other countries. IPhuket website. And we only have a small
think the reason is much more to do with thesection  on  katoeys.
tolerant  attitude  of  the  Thai  people.
Negatives
There are many katoey TV stars, singers and
models. They even have katoey beautyAlthough katoeys are generally well accepted
contests. There have been several katoeyin Thai society there is still a negative
movies such as 'Beautiful Boxer' which is theside to their reputation. They do have a
true story of a katoey who became a championreputation for being spiteful and
Muay Thai fighter. She would often kiss heruntrustworthy. I have personally met a few
defeated  opponents.during my years in Thailand and I have to say
that on the outside they all seemed well
Katoeys seem to be a widely accepted part ofadapted and happy. However, I have also heard
Thai society. This is probably partly to doplenty of stories of katoeys involved in
with the Buddhist religion and its preachingcriminal activities such as pick pocketing
of tolerance towards others. However, otherand other thefts. They have also been known
countries with a strong Buddhist influenceto harass and threaten passers-by late at
(Cambodia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Tibet, Laos,night while looking for customers along the
Japan)  are  not  known  for  their ladyboys.beachfronts.
There must be something else at work. I thinkThese things certainly do happen but the
one strong factor is the Thai belief thatscale of the problem is not clear. Whether
life should be fun (sanook). When they see akatoeys really commit crime on a scale
katoey, they think it is fun. They will laughgreater  than  other  Thais is hard to judge.
and joke about it but not in a nasty way.
They certainly will not hurl abuse or threatsThey also have a reputation for being
as  might  happen  in  western  countries.emotionally unbalanced. As I said, all the
ones I have met have seemed fine. However, I
So the main reason why there are so manythink it is fair to say that the strains of
katoeys in Thailand is simply that Thaitheir lives are very demanding and it is not
society is open and tolerant to them. Itsurprising that many of them lose emotional
makes you wonder how many transvestites therecontrol  easily.
might be in western countries if our
societies  were  a  little  more  forgiving.The tolerance of katoeys in Thai society is
not absolute. Their families, particularly
How  Many  Katoeys  Work  in  Phuket?the fathers, sometimes reject them. Men who
in most other ways are tolerant of katoeys,
In the wake of the tsunami tragedy and thecan  still  find  it  shameful to father one.
media feeding frenzy that followed, a friend
sent me an article from a British newspaper.And the authorities' tolerance also has its
The reporter was in Phuket and obviouslylimits. When a katoey volleyball team won the
struggling to compete for attention withnational championship, two of the team were
reporters at harder hit areas. So he did whatselected for the national team. The
a lot of reporters in Phuket did and startedgovernment stepped in and blocked their
focusing on the seedier side of the localselection. They did not think it was good for
nightlife. Quite what this had to do with thethe  country's  image.
tsunami  tragedy  I  am  not  sure.
Saving  Private  Tootsie
This particular reporter seemed to be
fascinated with the ladyboy scene. He made aIn 2002, there was a Thai movie given the
few sweeping generalisations about Phuket'sEnglish title 'Saving Private Tootsie'. In
nightlife, suggesting the whole island wasthis movie, a plane crash strands a group of
truly a cesspit of debauchery. He thenkatoeys in the jungle of a war torn
claimed there were 5,000 ladyboys working inneighbouring country. A group of macho Thai
Phuket's sex industry and a huge demand forsoldiers is sent to rescue them. The story
their  services.revolves around the personality clashes
between the flouncy katoeys and the macho
Where did he get this figure? It seems like asoldiers as they try to escape this
very bold claim. Is there a census? Do theneighbouring  country.
authorities make a ladyboy count? I really
doubt there was a reliable statisticIn the end, they all pull together to make
available to this reporter. Like most of histhe final crossing back to Thailand. The
report, I think he just made it up but hesoldiers put aside their dislike for the
obviously saw enough ladyboys around to thinkkatoeys and their leader returns home to
it  was  a  reasonable  guess.finally accept his son, who is also a katoey.
Phuket's high season population is estimatedThe movie's message is one of tolerance that
to be around 500,000. If 5,000 of them areis typical of Thai society. At the end of the
ladyboys then that would be 1% of themovie there is a nice quote from one katoey.
population. That would seem very unlikely but"I may have been born in the wrong body, but
not totally inconceivable. But he said 5,000at least I was born in the right country.
actually working in the sex industry. Where



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