A techno beat reverberates through the packed Tiffany Cabaret Theatre at Pattaya's beachside resort. China dolls float down the catwalk, swaying their hips to a catchy tune "Don't touch me baby."
from top: the Miss Tiffany's winner in her dressing room; the snake charmer at Mambo; the half-man, half-woman performer at Mambo cabaret
One news agency in recent years went so far to say that the winner of Miss Tiffany Universe was ''every bit as feminine'' as Miss Thailand.
This year's winner Piyathida Sakulthai was sent to Germany 10 years ago by his parents to study when they found out that he preferred to be considered a she.
" We are dealing with Thais coming out of the closet and defending their sexual preferences," said one of the Judges.
Other issues brought up during the contest echoed a consensus that though plastic surgery techniques have been gaining pace, the rights of transvestites haven't.
There are no existing laws that allow transvestites to change their gender designation legally. And if a lady boy is raped, they can't file charges as they are still considered men under the criminal law.
Katoeys or lady boys have always fulfilled a contradictory role in Thai society. They are portrayed in the entertainment industry as one-dimensional comic foils. And in recent years, the government tried to ban them from teachers' colleges. Television producers were also told to stop using lady boy characters because they were seen as unhealthy role models for Thai children.
Countering this image are the scores of transvestite Cabaret shows including Calypso, Mambo, and Tiffany's which bring in the tourist buck.
Or Thailand's equivalent of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Satree Lex (Iron Lady) a powerful local film about an all lady boy volleyball team which won the national championship. The second-highest-grossing film next to Nang Nak "which broke every taboo in the business", according to it's director Yongyoot Thongkongthun, did more to reinforce Thailand's 'katoey culture' than any homophobic backlash the country has had in recent years.
On average, two Thais a day are crossing genders under the scalpels of the Kingdom's surgeons who have come closest to perfecting gender reassignment surgery. According to the industry gender switching and cosmetic procedures are growing at a rate of 30 percent per year.
In lady boy circles, the name of two doctors, Preecha and Greechart, have become household names.
The simple procedure of cutting off the penis to carving out an artificial vagina has made quantum leaps since Dr Preecha, the 61-year old with over 1000 male-to-female sex changes under his belt, pioneered the practice in the early 70s.
Preecha, who once disliked transsexuals and transvestites, is now known abroad for his speed and dexterity; he can do a complete sexual overhaul with breasts and a shaved Adam's apple in three hours.
Taking the operation a step further was Greechart Pornsinsirirak from Yan Hee General hospital, famed for the fine trimmings of gender reassignment - a 'sensitive' clitoris. He did this by adding on a "clitoris" from a small chunk of penis he preserved during surgery.
The latest international Thai celebrity to succumb to Greechart's scalpel is kick boxer Parinya, best remembered for wearing lipstick and mascara in the ring.
from top: the Miss Tiffany's winner in her dressing room; the snake charmer at Mambo; the half-man, half-woman performer at Mambo cabaret
''I don't know how society thinks about this whole thing, but I don't regret it. All I have ever wanted is to be myself, '' said the ex-kick boxer who handed in his gloves for a frock, and is now lip-synching in Bangkok's 'cabaret circuit'.
The sex change industry isn't all gloss and glamour. It is highly unregulated and botch jobs are on the rise.
In the Kingdom there are only 172 Medical Council certified plastic surgeons, though by law general practitioners are allowed to perform these operations. Which is why corrective surgery is a spin off to this booming business.
Nonage Suey, 27, put his life savings into a sex change. She seized her chance after coming across an advertisement in the paper. The clinic advertised $256 breast enlargement operations, about one tenth the going rate.
But two weeks after the operation, however, she began complaining of chest pains. Nong Suay consulted another doctor who discovered that her ruptured implants were actually made from condoms filled with water. The back street operator- who didn't even have a medical degree - was imprisoned three years for negligence.
"She was a mess, " explained Dr Greecha, who is also one of the best corrective surgeons in the country.
Not only did she have to under take breast augmentation surgery again, her penis was badly mutilated, says Greecha. "The person who performed the procedure left about a two centimeter stump which had to be removed. "
In Nick Nostitz's photographic book Bangkok's Twilight Zone in which he devotes a chapter to katoeys, the German photographer quotes one lady boy as saying: "I'm not a man, I'm not a woman, I'm an angel."
On the balcony of Bangkok's Nana Plaza, a three-story mezzanine adult entertainment complex, these angels of the night whistle and cajole customers. This place is a plastic surgeon's menagerie. Everything is accentuated. Gender and reality is warped.
A delightfully gorgeous plaything - an absolute in terms of all the right curves - greets a pack of lads who stumble into bar. "Welcome, darling, welcome," she greets them, just a little bit too high pitched. But these men are all balls and bollocks, and remain unaware of this reality blur.
Before they down their first round of drinks, a bevy of beauties aggressively pounce on them. They are now the unwitting prey. And the She men swinging around their tables are the predators.
One strapping lad with short-cropped hair shouts over the raucous dim, "Check out that one out with the Pamela Anderson knockers." After she finishes her number on the dance floor, the surgically enhanced D cup comes up to his table and purrs her intentions.
Before he can say, 'Is that a chick with a dick' he's paid her bar fine and they are heading for the nearest short-time hotel.
His mates goad him on. "Give her one for me," they yell out, none the wiser of the City of Angels' sexual sleight-of-hand.
Printable Version
RSS Feed: 
Reader's Comments
Be the first to leave a comment on this page!
Please log in to use this feature.