Fridae

A movie based on the true story of "Nong Toom," a former Thai boxing champion who endured vicious fights to save enough money for a sex change, is due to hit Thai cinema screens on December 5.

Now known as Parinya Charoenphol, her story made local headlines she (then he) was a famous male kick boxer who excelled in the most macho of sports, Muay Thai or Thai kickboxing before undergoing a sex-change operation in 1999. Her story made the headlines in early 1998 when she started wearing makeup and kissing her opponents at the kickboxing meets.

"The reason I kissed men after a fight is because it was my way of apologizing, and telling the guy, 'It is not that I hate you, it is just a sport, and I'm sorry that I have to do it.' Even when I was boxing, I felt like I was a woman because I didn't believe a woman has to be weak and helpless. A woman can be strong and fight as well as a man." She told Asia Times in an interview.

In the interview, she also clarified that rumours about her being gay at any time were untrue.

"I don't understand about being gay. Do gay men want to be a man or a woman? Because if they want to be a woman, how come they work out and make themselves look more like a man? And if a person is a man, why do they like someone else who is the same gender?

"For me, I'm sure who I am. I'm now a transsexual. I always wanted to be a woman. I've always been a woman in my heart and I want everything about me, physically, to be a woman. It is not the same as being gay."

The 21-year-old is breaking new ground for transsexuals in a society where they are regularly mocked in soap operas, comedies and other TV shows. Despite their high profile, an estimated 10,000 transsexuals (or katoeys as they are locally known) live without any legal rights in the country.

"People mostly accepted me being a transvestite, maybe more than they accepted other transvestites, because I've always been a very good person, polite and helpful to my friends. So even though they knew I was like this, they treated me like a friend," Parinya said. "Even my parents accepted me because I would help them earn money and never do bad things."

At an initial press conference, she said: "I hope the people who watch the film will find courage to fight on their inner battles in the midst of all the gloom and doom in the world."

Thailand's GMM Pictures and Spicy Apple Films announced the film as: "A walking paradox: a girl trapped in a man's body, who fought like a man to become a woman."

Today, Parinya can no longer fight in Thailand because women are not allowed to kick-box.

Beautiful Boxer is produced and directed Ekachai Uekrongtham, a Thai-born stage director based in Singapore who will make his cinematic debut with the upcoming film. The film is expected to break many records after its release in December and is tipped to gross over Bt100 million (US$2.4 million) in ticket sales in the domestic market alone.