Thailand’s Unique Transgender Culture

Transgender people interviewed for this report stated that social parameters and lack of protections in Thailand severely limit their opportunities. Furthermore, they experience persistent discrimination based on appearance despite gender-affirming surgeries being offered since the 1970s by surgeons there.

One factor contributing to Thai society accepting LGBT individuals as being acceptable lies with Buddhism as their main religion.

Meet The Kathoey

Kathoeys often identify as female, yet are openly gay or heterosexual. Kathawut Khangpiboon, an instructor at Thammasat University in Bangkok was denied employment after posting pictures to social media with lipstick that looked like penis-shaped lipstick swatches on it.

Many Kathoey are estranged from their families and live an isolated culture, yet many work as performers in tourist zones and have access to foreign money which helps maintain their appearance and keep up appearances.

Inspired by online transgender communities and Western transgender women, some kathoeys have begun to view themselves not as transgenders but instead as women. Some have undergone surgery in order to achieve this transition but this transformation is about more than physical aesthetics; it is about becoming the person they were always meant to be and sparking a gender revolution.

Kathoey Lifestyle

The term kathoey refers to someone born male but living as female and presenting themselves to society as female. Many Thai kathoey work in the entertainment industry such as cabaret shows or sexual industries which draw tourists.

Growing up, Jip had few relatable role models among kathoeys on television or film; those she saw often came off either as comic relief or tragic victims of unrequited love.

After Thailand was shocked by a volleyball team called “Iron Ladies”, winning their national championship gave many kathoeys their first positive role models and gave them more visibility within their communities and an opportunity for better incomes. Both events provided them with their first opportunity for national prominence as role models – followed by film versions a few years later of similar themes.

Kathoey Music

Since World War II, Western depictions of Thailand have seen an astonishing transformation from general androgyny to female beauty, not by chance or aesthetic whim but due to the state’s successful project to revolutionise Thai gendering according to perceived norms of civilisation. Kathoey categories therefore emerged not as pre-civilised cultural forms but due to strong heteronormative and class/status social exclusions pervading modern Thai society resulting in strong channelling effects leading to the kathoey category that exists today.

Faced with limited opportunities in mainstream Thai society, kathoeys often turn to tourist zones in search of work and socialisation opportunities. Cabaret shows can bring them money as does catering for foreigners seeking liaisons from among this population. Jip’s photographs of Treechada Petcharat – commonly referred to by her nickname Poyd – demonstrate how beauty pageants like Miss Tiffany Universe give these women new identities as performers and celebrities.

Venus Flytrap was an all-kathoey girl band which made history by becoming the first Thai group with an official recording contract and public performances. Sony BMG Music Entertainment appreciated and valued their ideas and took them seriously for success.

Kathoey Politics

Making nonheteronormative life sustainable involves navigating multiple constraints and prejudices, as well as finding sources of visibility and recognition to sustain one’s identity and livelihood. Supportive peers, work opportunities or social environments that recognize gay scenes may all provide this necessary support; at different stages in their lives kathoey decide where best to find these resources and how best to access them.

Thai society has historically experienced significant processes of heteronormative and class/status social exclusions that manifest themselves through lives such as those led by kathoey and gay men, causing significant disruption of older patterns of erotic desire – leading to changes that reshaped what it meant to be male or female and eventually led to the current revolution in gender norms driven by these same-sex identities and cultures. Their rise cannot simply be attributed to state incitement; rather they emerged due to unintended disruptions within old patterns of erotic desire that caused disruptions of older patterns of erotic desire which caused unintended disruptions of older patterns of erotic desire which were interrupted, giving way to their appearance – hence its rise being driven by Kathoey-led revolution in gender norms being driven forward by these same-sex identities and cultures which spawned alongside state incitement from state inciting state incitement would have predated their birth by many years if that happened with no state intervention taking place beforehand as this would have happened sooner; rather it must have happened due to unintended disruptions caused by older patterns of erotic desire being interrupted due to disruption caused by older patterns being disrupted, leading to this revolution led by Kathoey led revolution led revolution in gender norms.