Anyone who has visited Thailand will know the beauty of Thai women. In their twenties, they are flashy. In their thirties, they look more mature, but still most are very attractive.
The women who work in the ubiquitous bars and massage parlors of Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket are mostly ex-housewives, believe it or not, married but separated, with two children left behind in their village with their mothers. Most are from Isaan, the northeast corner of Thailand, which has a high amount of poverty. Some are from other parts of the country, especially Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, and very few are from Bangkok or central Thailand.
But about 1 in 100 is not a woman at all, but a “ladyboy”, or katoey in Thai. Very often, they appear more feminine than real women. I have seen many farang stare and lust after a very sexy woman, not realizing that “she” is “he”.
Like the women, most of the ladyboys are from Isaan. I have talked to some individually and asked them when they first knew they wanted to be a woman. They all said they met at a young age, around 5 or 6 years old. They said that they liked feminine manners, that they didn’t like rough sports, that they liked art and music.
Katoeys are an accepted part of Thai culture, considered a third sex in Thailand. Several are movie stars and television announcers. One is a national kickboxing champion. You will find ladyboys everywhere, working as waiters, shop assistants, hairdressers, messengers, etc.
In North America and Europe, a sex change operation (also called gender reassignment) is considered a big deal, requiring many months of psychological counseling before the operation to make sure the person is committed to the change.
In Thailand, a sex change operation is quite common. There are several clinics and hospitals that perform it, and the cost is a fraction of what the Western charge would be, typically US$5,000-7,000. However, for a poor person in Isaan, $5,000 is a large amount of money.
There are three main areas in Bangkok where ladyboys are present in large numbers: Nana Entertainment Plaza (on Sukhumvit Soi 4), Patpong Road (off Silom), and Soi Cowboy (near the intersection of Sukhumvit Road and Asoke Road, which has both BTS SkyTrain and MRT subway stations).
In Nana, most of the ladyboys are “pre-op”, meaning they still have a penis. In Patpong and Soi Cowboy, most are “post-op”, meaning they have had surgery to create a vagina. The operation involves cutting out a section of the intestine, which will become the vagina. The penis is cut and inserted into the intestinal tube; usually part of the scrotal sac is used to increase the length of the new vagina. The tip of the penis becomes the new clitoris, and is usually still sensitive after the procedure is over and everything has healed. The ladyboys I talked to said they could still have an orgasm, but they didn’t ejaculate.
Scar tissue is visible if the post-op ladyboy retains her pubic hair, but if she shaves it off, it’s hard to distinguish an artificially created vagina from the real thing.
However, this is usually not the end of the story in gender reassignment. The male body is usually larger than the female, even in Thailand, where many people appear to be 80% the size of Western people. The ladyboy has to take hormones for a couple of years before the operation; These hormones help you grow breasts and reduce facial and body hair growth. Thai men don’t usually have much body hair, compared to Western men, but they do; hormones or other treatment are needed to reduce or eliminate it. However, hormones have the side effect of reducing the ability to ejaculate.
Men often have a protruding Adam’s apple, so it’s yet another operation: a surgeon can shave it off to reduce or remove the bump. And many do electrolysis to remove body hair, especially under the arms.
If you visit Nana Entertainment Plaza after 7 pm (which is when it opens), you’ll find several hair salons located on decks that run along three sides of the structure. Those in the front serve the girls from the bar; those in the back cater to ladyboys. You can see some of the ladyboys preening and putting on makeup.
Some of the bars are exclusively for ladyboys. If you walk into one of those bars, you will find that most of the ladyboys are more than passable and some are surprisingly beautiful. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an ugly ladyboy.
When it comes to relationships, ladyboys are just like Thai women. They want a long-term relationship and will work hard to make the relationship work. Many speak some English, but you really need a product like Speak Easy Thai to help you learn some basic Thai vocabulary. If you can communicate better, you have a much better chance of having a lasting relationship.
Aside from Bangkok’s nightlife, which no visitor should miss, the ladyboy cabaret shows are professionally staged, with spectacular productions (lots of feathers and glitter, great music and some comedy too). You can see them at Calypso Cabaret (Asia Hotel, Ratchathewi SkyTrain Station), Golden Dome Cabaret (15-minute walk from Sutthisan Metro Station), and Mambo Cabaret in the old Washington Theater between Sukhumvit Soi 22 and 24.
