Close by the Grand Palace, the 8th Women's Studies Conference at Thammasat University in Bangkok heard presentations on kathoey (a Thai term to mean a male-to-female transgendered person), lesbians and queer theory. For two days on Aug 16 and 17, the conference focused on the Political Economy of Gender.

Dr Kritaya Archauanitkul, of the Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol University, chaired the Friday morning panel. She began by recounting the fight to get "sexual diversity" in the new constitution. The debate in the Constitution Drafting Assembly (CDA) on inclusion of "sexual diversity" was the first of its kind in Thai history. But even some supporters in the CDA were unsure of the implications of using the phrase "sexual diversity," and the proposal was defeated.

The second attempt used a Thai phrase translated as "sexual identity." The CDA agreed to include the phrase, but it was then removed on procedural grounds. The issue had already been debated and voted, and could not be re-opened. The explanatory notes for the new constitution, she said, indicate the intention of the drafters to protect LGBT individuals from discrimination.

Prempreeda Pramote na Ayudhya's gave a presentation titled "Political Economy: No Entry for Kathoey." She is the secretary of the Thai Queer Resources Centre, which is collecting Thai LGBT materials. Bon, as she is known, recently completed a masters thesis at Mahidol University on sexuality issues. She has given papers at academic conferences in Singapore and Sydney.

In one part of her presentation, Bon recounted problems she faced in not having a national identity card which identified her as a woman or as a kathoey. When her bank card was stolen, the bank refused, initially, to cancel the card because of their confusion over her identity. This cost Bon THB200,000 (US$6,086)

The Nation, one of the two English language newspapers in Bangkok, was fascinated by her bank card story, and ran a feature article on the conference which mentioned no other speakers. Chanel 9 Television followed up with an interview on Aug 21. Thai media have met an academic kathoey for the first time.

The next speaker, Sumalee Tokthong, a graduate student at Thammasat University, is completing a thesis on lesbian relationships. She described the lives of three couples she had met and interviewed.

The final speaker was Anjana Suvarnananda (Tang), the founder of Anjaree, one of the first lesbian organisations in Asia. In the short time allotted to her, she attempted to explain current terms, ideas and disputes on sexuality and queer theory.

Doug Sanders is a retired Canadian Law Professor now living in Bangkok. He can be contacted at sanders_gwb@yahoo.ca.