One of Thailand's most popular sex-change surgeons has urged the government to legally recognise the new gender of transsexuals, according to the Associated Press.

Dr Preecha Thiewanon was addressing a seminar last week on the behaviour of men after their sex change operation when they said that the current Thai laws were unfair toward the transgendered women.

He said that transgendered women are still considered men by law, and their marriages to men are not legally recognised, depriving them of the rights that other couples have.

Dr Thiewanon who has performed hundreds of sex-changed operations, mostly on men becoming women also urged the government to allow transsexuals to have their passports and other legal documents changed to reflect their new gender.

Thailand has become popular as a destination for sex-change operations because of the low cost compared to Western countries.