When I first told my friends that I was planning an extended stay in Thailand, it is fantastic how many times I heard the same unintelligent reply - "watch out for them ladyboys!" Again and again, I heard this inane commentary until it de facto started to grate. Every person production the same unintelligent joke as if it was clever and original. What a ridiculous stereotype of Thailand, I thought. As if there are ladyboys anywhere you go.
The funny thing is, once I moved to Thailand, I soon discovered that ladyboys, or katoeys as they are known in Thailand, de facto are everywhere. It is not just a handful of them working the tourist resorts. You will see them working in shops and restaurants. Even if you go out into the country, you will find katoeys. They de facto are everywhere.
Phuket Thailand
In fact, I had not been here long before I had a personal acquaintance who was a katoey. One of the things I noticed was just how comfortable other Thais were in her company. Straight Thai men were quite happy to give her compliments such as telling her how beautiful she looked. They all called her 'she' as it is diplomatic and made her happy.
Personally, I was initially a petite uncomfortable in her presence. I wasn't scared she would jump on me. She was a pleasant and well-balanced person. I was just a petite unsure how to deal with her. It was the charming way the other Thais treated her that soon put me at ease.
What is a Katoey?
What exactly is a katoey? I had this consulation with a combine of western friends recently. They both live in Phuket and both said that you can only call man a katoey if they have had gender altering surgery; otherwise, you should use the term ladyboy. This I feel is a western invented distinction. Katoey is a Thai word and that is not how it is used.
Thais use the term much more loosely. They use the term for any man who acts like a woman. Transgender male is probably the closest English term. Men who have gender altering surgery are katoeys. So are those who take hormones to originate female attributes such as breasts. So are those who dress up like a woman. In fact, even gay men who put on a bit of make up and flounce nearby are referred to as katoeys.
Why so many Katoeys in Thailand?
By this definition, there de facto are abundance of katoeys in Thailand. So why is this phenomenon so much more base here than in other countries? It seems unlikely that there is a genetic think for Thailand to have more transgender males than other countries. I think the think is much more to do with the tolerant attitude of the Thai people.
There are many katoey Tv stars, singers and models. They even have katoey charm contests. There have been any katoey movies such as 'Beautiful Boxer' which is the true story of a katoey who became a champion Muay Thai fighter. She would often kiss her defeated opponents.
Katoeys seem to be a widely acceptable part of Thai society. This is probably partly to do with the Buddhist religion and its preaching of tolerance towards others. However, other countries with a strong Buddhist sway (Cambodia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Tibet, Laos, Japan) are not known for their ladyboys.
There must be something else at work. I think one strong factor is the Thai reliance that life should be fun (sanook). When they see a katoey, they think it is fun. They will laugh and joke about it but not in a nasty way. They de facto will not hurl abuse or threats as might happen in western countries.
So the main think why there are so many katoeys in Thailand is naturally that Thai community is open and tolerant to them. It makes you wonder how many transvestites there might be in western countries if our societies were a petite more forgiving.
How Many Katoeys Work in Phuket?
In the wake of the tsunami tragedy and the media feeding frenzy that followed, a friend sent me an report from a British newspaper. The reporter was in Phuket and obviously struggling to compete for attentiveness with reporters at harder hit areas. So he did what a lot of reporters in Phuket did and started focusing on the seedier side of the local nightlife. Quite what this had to do with the tsunami tragedy I am not sure.
This single reporter seemed to be fascinated with the ladyboy scene. He made a few sweeping generalisations about Phuket's nightlife, suggesting the whole island was truly a cesspit of debauchery. He then claimed there were 5,000 ladyboys working in Phuket's sex business and a huge demand for their services.
Where did he get this figure? It seems like a very bold claim. Is there a census? Do the authorities make a ladyboy count? I de facto doubt there was a trustworthy statistic ready to this reporter. Like most of his report, I think he just made it up but he obviously saw enough ladyboys nearby to think it was a uncostly guess.
Phuket's high season people is estimated to be nearby 500,000. If 5,000 of them are ladyboys then that would be 1% of the population. That would seem very unlikely but not totally inconceivable. But he said 5,000 de facto working in the sex industry. Where was this army of ready ladyboys?
At Soi Katoey in Bangla Road, Patong, there are all the time a few dancing at the front of the soi. There is an additional one katoey bar at the back and Moulin Rouge ladyboy show. But de facto even at the top estimate, there could not be more than 50 ladyboys working in Soi Katoey. There are maybe an additional one 30 performing at Simon Cabaret Ladyboy Show - does that even count as the sex industry? For the sake of argument, let's say it does. Then there is the gay area nearby Soi Paradise. There are quite a few ladyboys nearby this area but I think an estimation of 100 would be very generous.
There are a few ladyboys freelancing along the beachfronts where they annoy passing drunks. But really, they are not there in very high numbers. Let's be generous again and say 100. Have I missed any? Maybe there are a few dotted nearby other sex establishments.
So even if we round up my figures, we have a very generous guesstimate of 300 ladyboys active in the sex industry. I de facto think that is probably highly generous. A lot of the above figures are probably the same katoeys interesting from location to location and I think I have overestimated all my guesses. The total outline could be as few as 100.
So I would say somewhere in the middle of 100-300 katoeys working in Phuket's sex industry. de facto not 5,000 but then a outline of 100 would not make good press.
Men and Katoeys
So what about the demand for Katoeys? Are there de facto lots of men seeing for their services? Since their most base advent seems to be trying to fool very drunk men, I would guess that their services are not massively in demand. I have met a few men who have had sexual encounters with katoeys. Most of them claim it was a drunken mistake.
I did meet one guy who happily proclaimed he had just been 'blown off' by two katoeys in his hotel room. He was rather proud of himself and de facto not claiming it was a mistake. You do meet some funny characters in Patong.
I guess there is some genuine demand for katoeys. Although they are active in the gay area, I do not think it is strictly a gay thing. Although they are made-up as women, I do not think it is a Straight thing. But there is a hard-to-define group of men who do find katoeys attractive. Certainly, there is a lot of curiosity about them. Every month, the word 'katoey' is in the top 20 list of search keywords that have led people to our Phuket website. And we only have a small section on katoeys.
Negatives
Although katoeys are commonly well acceptable in Thai community there is still a negative side to their reputation. They do have a credit for being spiteful and untrustworthy. I have personally met a few while my years in Thailand and I have to say that on the outside they all seemed well adapted and happy. However, I have also heard abundance of stories of katoeys complicated in criminal activities such as pick pocketing and other thefts. They have also been known to harass and threaten passers-by late at night while seeing for customers along the beachfronts.
These things de facto do happen but the scale of the problem is not clear. Whether katoeys de facto commit crime on a scale greater than other Thais is hard to judge.
They also have a credit for being emotionally unbalanced. As I said, all the ones I have met have seemed fine. However, I think it is fair to say that the strains of their lives are very demanding and it is not surprising that many of them lose emotional operate easily.
The tolerance of katoeys in Thai community is not absolute. Their families, particularly the fathers, sometimes reject them. Men who in most other ways are tolerant of katoeys, can still find it shameful to father one.
And the authorities' tolerance also has its limits. When a katoey volleyball team won the national championship, two of the team were superior for the national team. The government stepped in and blocked their selection. They did not think it was good for the country's image.
Saving underground Tootsie
In 2002, there was a Thai movie given the English title 'Saving underground Tootsie'. In this movie, a plane crash strands a group of katoeys in the jungle of a war torn neighbouring country. A group of macho Thai soldiers is sent to recovery them. The story revolves nearby the personality clashes in the middle of the flouncy katoeys and the macho soldiers as they try to fly this neighbouring country.
In the end, they all pull together to make the final crossing back to Thailand. The soldiers put aside their dislike for the katoeys and their leader returns home to finally accept his son, who is also a katoey.
The movie's message is one of tolerance that is typical of Thai society. At the end of the movie there is a nice quote from one katoey. "I may have been born in the wrong body, but at least I was born in the right country."
Ladyboys of Phuket
