Wow, it´s been a long time again since our last post. Sorry for that. But we really appreciate the many emails that encouraged us to keep our project going.
We spent some time thinking about how to publish post more regularly. We reduced the number of team members down to basically only me and Victoria. But still we will have all of our friends and even more Ladyboy sisters on our page.
We will keep the posts shorter but will add some “twittering” to the site. With this booming Web 2.0 tool we can update our blog much quicker and keep the promise to authentically report about the life of Ladyboys.
Victoria will start to twitter and if we get enough followers and feedback, I will join her, as well.
Have a look on the right side of this page. You will find her twitter update there. Or you can check out all updates on her twitter page.
Twittering now: Victoria
Of course, we will still write “old fashioned” post as most things in life are too complicated to tell them in only 140 character.
Have fun!
Technorati: Bangkok Victoria ladyboys thai Thailand katoey katoy transsexual transgender twitter web 2.0
Phet Ti Saam – The Ladyboy Blog goes 2.0
Ladyboys and Drugs
At least once a week one can read about another Transsexual arrested in Pattaya for drug possession. Of course, this does not put the Thai Ladyboys in a good light and makes it look like Ladyboys and drugs inevitably belong together. Certainly, this is not true by no means. Almost all the other Transsexuals that I know, aren`t like that – they don`t even smoke cigarettes. But of course, I also met some that are not like that. But I don`t have any connection to that. Drug possession is punished very hard in Thailand, so you better stay away from anybody related to drugs.
But why are Ladyboys in connection with drugs so present in the daily press?
First of all, to refer to Pattaya: Everywhere where many people are around and where a lot is happening also crime and criminals are much more present. Accordingly, the number of involved Katoeys is higher, too.
Another reason might be, that a lot of Ladyboys are involved in prostitution. And of course, the environment of prostitution is generative for crime, violence and last but not least drug abuse.
Poverty and self-doubts also contribute to Katoeys trying to flee the dull and seemingly hopeless everyday life into inebriation.
In the past the common widest spread drug had been an amphetamine, which is called “Yaa Baa”, the “Crazy Medincine” in Thai. Recently, also “Yaa Ice” is spreading in Thailand. A nightmare, because it is nothing else than Crystal Meth, a drug that displaced the already demoniac crack and which has even more devastating side effects on its consumers.
“Ice” creates addiction quicker than hardly any other drug. The damages on the organism show up much earlier than with other drugs. The body is detoriating rapidly.
Over here in Thailand rehabilitation is almost not available. And stopping on one`s own is almost impossible.
Still, the problem is rather the surrounding than the people. The Ladyboys living in the poor north eastern part of Thailand, Isaan, are poor, too. But they still don`t smoke “Yaa Baa”. Society over there accepts them and they are highly integrated in the social structure. Hardly someone is alone and lonely with his problems over there. Unlike the girls in the streets of Thailand`s tourist cities.
Technorati: katoey thai Thailand ladyboy transsexual drug pattaya yaa ba ice
Ladyboy Immigration
Usually you don`t need your passport too often. In fact you only need it at the borders and immigration offices. As I don`t hold a Thai passport I spend some time of the year with immigration officers. Most often - though it`s a little complicated – it is fun: my passport says something different than my picture. And also all those who wrote the reference letters for me did not know what I am. So this leads me almost every time in the situation where the offices get really confused with my passport. Strange thing is, that they are really willing to believe rather what they see standing in front of them and on the picture rather than in the entry for “Sex”.
I just came back to get me a Visa and also the clerk at the Thai embassy would not believe in my passport. But Thai people are very easy going and even when they ask me directly in my face I don`t bother because they don`t mean it in a bad way. Actually, I should let them do what they think is right but I am scared that I will get trouble at the border s the visa stuff is the only thing where I write what my passport says.
Once I was travelling from Hong Kong to Macau and also got in a little trouble with the immigration. The lay behind the desk resolved the case and told me that I had to check my passport at home as it obviously had a misprint.
I year ago I was travelling with my friend Opal to Europe. Of course she had to get her a visa. I went with her to give her a little backup because she thought it was impossible for her to get the visa.
At the embassy I was informed by the clerk that my friend`s passport said that she was not a born girl. “So am I”, I said and we got the visa. Sometimes I think it might be a little advantage to have a discrepancy in your passport. It confuses the officers and they forget to think of how they can trouble you this time.
Technorati: ladyboy katoey transsexual thai Thailand immigration visa passport
Ladyboys and Education
A couple of months ago I read in an enlish language blog about an english teacher who described her experiences with ladyboys in class and their attitude towards education. The teacher wrote that most of the ladyboy students picked up the english language much quicker than their born-female or male classmates.
Her explanation for that phenomenon is that even though Thai society is quite liberal concerning the "Third Sex", ladyboys have still to struggle hard for recognition and jobs. Therefore they have to be tougher and better educated than others, says the teacher.
I am not so sure if this is a sufficient explanation. In fact, I think there are some more factors to it. But it's somehow true - more often I am impressed by knowledge,discipline and attitude of a "sister" than by anyone else.
One of the factor leading to this surely is talent: Everybody knows about the two halfs of the brain, one of which provides talent for logic thinking i.e. maths and technology. This part of the brain is better developed with men. The other part of the brain supports fine arts, emotions and language etc. That part is rather prevalent with women and of course - ladyboys. This means we might be just talented with learning languages. People who have already traveled to Thailand might have recognized that many transsexuals working in tourism speak quite good english.I also have a ladyboy friend (Her name's "Am". I will introduce her in a couple of weeks - she's really cute) who can learn a new language in only a week so far that she is able to communicate with native speakers.
To give a balanced view I have to admit that I also know sisters who don't have any language talent at all and hardly speak a word other than Thai although they have been working in guesthouses and restaurants in tourist areas for years.
Another point might be that ladyboys are already at a young age pretty aware of their tasks in life. They start much earlier to be responsible for themselves and develop a disciplined lifestyle earlier than other kids. Of course this works prettty good in school. It is just that we learn early in life how to work towards a goal that will be achived later.
And of course most of us are pretty smart anyway :-)
Technorati: thai thailand katoey katoy transsexual ladyboy education school
Porn Offers and Media Request
I don`t know but for some reason, some people completely misunderstand what our blog is about. As we mentioned in one of our earliest posts, this blog is not only about sex and definitely no porn. Still, every day we get emails asking us to act in porn movies and even ask to take part in our porn productions (which we of course don´t have). Also some people are "nice" to offer us jobs as their "maids" in western countries. But thanks, we are pretty fine over here. Maybe those people just don`t get it, that we are real people and not only characters in a sex movie.
Instead, we are actually very happy about all the requests we get from the media about everything related with "Being Ladyboy". For the last couple of months this happened quite regularly and we had quite a many opportunities to talk about our point of view on things. And as far as I know, we have always been quoted right in the press and everybody thought good about our blog project.
So, thanks for that. But all those other guys. Better think twice and don`t send your invitations to the world of porn.
Technorati: Technorati: thai Thailand katoey ladyboy porn blog blogging media
Businesswoman Opal
Yeah, she looks tough in that business dress, but be sure. She is as nice as ever. Looks like a really Bangkok business Girl, doesn`t she?
Technorati: Thailand thai Bangkok busniess ladyboy katoey katoy transsexual transgender pictures
Thailand`s and the World`s most important Ladyboy Beauty Contest Cancelled
Found at The Star Online, edited by Nong Duu
Thailand’s international transgender beauty pageant this year has to be postponed to 2009 as the ongoing political standoff in Bangkok continues to keep visitors away.
This year Kangsadan Wongdusadeekul a 21-year-old katoey beauty queen was supposed to represent her country in Miss International Queen 2008 (Thailand’s international transgender beauty pageant) after she was crowned Miss Tiffany’s Universe 2008 (the most sought after beauty pageant title for Thai ladyboys) in May.
However, the on-going battle between the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) and the People’s Power Party-led coalition government has indirectly trampled on her dream to compete against aspiring transvestites around the world including Malaysia – echoing the Thai proverb which says, “In a battle between elephants, the ants get squashed”.
Miss International Queen 2008, which was due to be held in October and then deferred to November, has been cancelled (or in PR-speak postponed to 2009) as the political turmoil in Bangkok takes its toll on tourist arrivals.
Alisa Phanthusak, whose family owns the world-famous Tiffany show, a katoey cabaret show in Pattaya, is the organiser of Miss Tiffany’s Universe and Miss International Queen, admitted feeling “terrible” that the international pageant had to be “postponed”.
“But we had to take this painful decision because international tourist arrivals dropped after the government declared emergency rule (on Sept 2, after a Thai was killed when anti and pro-government groups clashed on the streets of Bangkok) and several countries advised their citizens not to travel to Thailand,” she explained.
At first the organiser postponed Miss International Queen 2008 to late November this year thinking the political struggle between the PAD and the government in the Thai capital would end by then.
But after two PAD supporters were killed and nearly 500 injured when the anti-government demonstrators clashed with the police outside parliament in Bangkok on Oct 7, Alisa realised the political instability would continue even through Thailand’s high tourism season (October to March).
To paraphrase the Thai proverb, in a battle between political elephants, Thailand’s tourism industry (not exactly an ant as it contributes 14% to the country’s GDP) gets squashed.
Take the example of the Tiffany Show. The audience for Pattaya’s must-see transsexual cabaret show (usually attracting 2,000 guests a day) has dropped by 50%.
“This is the greatest crisis for tourism in Pattaya since I’ve been in the business for the past 10 years,” the 34-year-old businesswoman said, adding that the downturn was unfair as Pattaya was a long way from the epicentre of the political turmoil in Bangkok.
Technorati: Kangsadan Wongdusadeekul Miss International Queen 2008 2009 Tiffany’s Universe Bangkok Pattaya ladyboy katoey katoy thai thailand
Insulted by Post
And every month you will get your phone and electricity bill send to a “Mr.”
I cannot tell you how much that sucks.
So when I have the Chance I will fill out all forms for new contract myself an clearly write “Miss” as my title. But if you just have to send a copy of your I.D. card to the one you are making a contract with, there will be a “male” on your I. D. and therefore you will be male on every bill that you receive.
That is so incredibly degrading for me. Also last time I stood next to somebody who wrote my name into some book that was something official but not THAT official. He asked me what to write and I pointed to the title of another girl whose name he had written before – “nangsao” (Miss).
He just ignored that and that hurt me a lot. Some time ago, I read in the press that someone proposed to address us ladyboys officially as “Miss”. That would have been so nice as it shows that we are accepted also s part of the society and not only as beautiful doll in Thailand`s Cabaret shows and rather clownish characters in TV shows.
Technorati: law rights ladyboy katoey katoy thai Thailand Bangkok
Ladyboy Sex Workers
Just very recently I have been interviewed by two journalists who wanted to hear my opinion about different topics connected with ladyboy life in Thailand. Of course I was happy to help them, as telling how we really are is the major reason for publishing this weblog. Some of their questions also targeted the issue of transgender sex workers in Thailand and while preparing myself for the interview I spend also some thought this:
Of course, Thailand has still it`s reputation for attracting sex tourists, though a lot of effort has been spend by the concerned agencies to get rid of that image, but I am not so sure if this can be done that easily if ever. Still, it`s a matter of fact that the incomes of those who worked in that business in the tourist areas of Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket and others, contributed a lot to the improvements in Thailand`s rural areas. Nevertheless it is clear that the life of a sex worker is certainly everything but easy and fun.
As I mentioned in several other posts before, I know about a dozen ladyboy sex workers and some of them I even would call my friends though with some reservations. That way I got a lot of insights into their “working life” - sometimes even deeper than I wished I had.
For them there are two ways of getting in touch with their potential suitors. Going to clubs and pubs, getting a drink and after some eye contact walk up to the men, address them and try to get into some small talk. After something like a conversation (most of them have very limited knowledge of the English language) they will ask them rather direct if they want to have sex with them. As far as I know the fact, that they are not born girls is seldom revealed at that point of time. I am not sure how and when they tell it but somehow it has to be done. I could not imagine to go to a guy`s room and only there tell him about myself. That can end up in pretty dangerous situations.
I know that not so few bars and clubs in Bangkok don`t allow ladyboys to enter as they had bad experiences of ladyboys pushing themselves to obscene and aggressive on male guests which might give the shop a bad reputation. Fortunately, that restriction has never been applied on me. Good for them because I would give them a rather big scene. Also I guess that the bouncers know me and know that I am harmless (at least I hope so).
The other alternative for transsexual sex workers is to address men on the street. Just a couple of days ago I sat down on a table set up on the street where ladyboy prostitutes gathered and watched the men walking past. I sat down because they invited me and I had nothing better to do. For me there is no question that this way of getting in contact with customers is much harder and much more humiliating. It was hard to see how these nice dressed girls would start from that table and talk to even the ugliest, oldest and drunken men, walked some meters with them and after getting half a dozen rejections to their offered services they would turn away and try their luck with another man. The worst thing to see was, when groups of three or four young drunken westerners started to make fun of them, touching them like pieces of meat and insulting them in the middle of the road. It was then that I decided to leave as that scene started to get me sad.
Some of them endure this live for many years already. Just on that day I asked one of them for her name as we just had a nodding acquaintance together before. When she told it to me I remember having met her already four years ago. Since then her appearance as suffered a lot and she seems to have aged at least the double. Also her nose looks like it had been broken which it did not at the time we met first. As mentioned above: You can get in dangerous situations.
Of course such a long time in that business does not leave your heart and soul untouched. When I sat on their table that night the whole language they used was strongly obscene. Once in a while I like to talk that lewd ladyboy language in Thai for fun but they are using it as the usual way to communicate. It`s easy to imagine what kind of impression this will leave on other Thai people as the Thai language is in fact overflowing of politeness and discretion.
Also, they weren`t shy to flash their boobs and even show their lower parts in the middle of the road. A behavior that I know from other drunken ladyboys but yet I can`t stand it as it embarrasses me. Call me prude but I can`t appreciate that.
When they started to touch my boobs I made my excuses and left.
It´s obvious that it had been their tough environment that made them that way and I wonder how they can take that night after night after night. It makes it quite traceable why so many of those ladyboy slip into taking drugs and stealing. Nevertheless it´s useless to try to blame someone directly for that as it had been their choice. Still, too many ladyboys in Thailand and transgender people around the world are pushed into prostitution to make a living because they are not accepted in other jobs.
If there would be improvement, sure fewer ladyboys would accept sex work as their profession.
Technorati: sex work prostitution ladyboy ladyboys thai Thailand Bangkok katoey kathoey katoy transsexual transgender
Lesbian Ladyboys?
A nice anecdote of an occurence that happened to me already a year ago:
I went to the island Ko Chang in the Gulf of Thailand to meet some friends. But the night I arrived there, I was told that my friends were still on the mainland and would only come to the island during the next days. As I did not knew how to spend my time I sat down on one of the bars along the road that runs all along the western coast of Ko Chang. The girl behind the bar was a Ladyboy, too so I started chatting with her in Thai as casual as we do among each other.
I ordered a beer and asked her when her shift would end and if she wanted to go out for party later as I did not have anything else to do. But for some reason she was exceptionally reserved and refused to go out for dancing.I could not get my head around that as I never seen a sister that would not start immediately chatting and laughing with me.I finished my beer and went off to another bar.The next day my friends arrived and at night we went out to party at the clubs on Lonely Beach.The taciturn Ladyboy from the night before came with us but this time she was just the wy everybody else was. We danced, laughed, drank and chatted in Katoey language.
It was only then that one of my friends told me that she had though I was a lesbian girl as she had not recognized me as a Ladyboy and of course was confused about my talking to her. Then it dawned on me that the night before I had just worn my hair hidden under a baseball cap and my dress and make up was just the way I had travelled all the way down from Bangkok.
Still, I am not sure if this was a compliment or not. I mean it is nice if even my fellow sisters thinks of me as a girl but somehow there remains a bad taste with this. I guess I will keep it like it like what it is: A nice anecdote.
Technorati: ladyboy katoey katoy thai Thailand stories story ko chang lonely beach lesbian
Pictures from Ladyboy Nueng
Going Ladyboy and back
As I blogged some time earlier, the concept of what the word Katoey means in Thai is not the same like Transvestite or Transsexual in western languages. For some it ist the urgent wish to become a women, others rather have it as their way they want to live their lives. The word „gay“ does not exist that long in Thailand – actually just a couple of decades. And meanwhile being gay has become more trendy than the old-fashioned Katoeys.
Also in Thailand there are many people around, who are actually just a kind of feminine gays, but just because it is so easy and common to live as a ladyboy they try that out first. Later they will find out, that they are no girls and don`t want to live their lives that way. They just want to be boys loving other boys.
I have two friends of that kind. Both lived their late teens and early twens as ladyboys, wearing their hair long, fancy clothes and make-up. Then they changed quite abruptly to live as boys again. „I just am not“, one of my friends told me. „It`s boring to put on make-up.“ Now he has beenn living as boy for serveral years again and you can clearly see, that he never actually had been a ladyboy like me and my other friends are. We still call him „Katoey Pom Sun“ – „Short Hair Ladyboy“. And this term fits as of course he is still quite effeminate.
And that`s actually the reason why a psychological examination is mandatory before a sex reassigning surgery is done. A trained psychologist would have found out from the very first time he had talked to my friend and told him that he was going the wrong way.
The example of my other friend makes the reasons why people become ladyboys and then come back even more clear. He had been a ladyboy, too and came back to be a boy. Still for him there is no clear border between being a ladyboy and being gay. I have been knowing him for some years right now and I definetly know that he is nothing but gay. Still, on his birthdays he celebrates in a dress. And also in everyday`s life he applies a little eyeliner and wears fancy unisex clothes. I guess that is nothing so special in Europe and the US. I know that there are a lot gay people over there living just that way I described my friend. So maybe the whole idea of putting yourself, your sexual orientation and your way of life in drawer is wrong.
Of course for us transsexual Katoey our way is clear and there won`t be anything that can change us. But for all the other ones – why not? There are no frontiers.
Technorati: ladyboy katoey katoy thai thailand gay change
Ladies and Gentlemen: Kate!
Time again to introduce another friend of mine: Kate: I have been knowing Kate only since the beginning of this year, but during that time we have become close friends. I guess that from all my friends she is the most loyal one who will never let me down. She comes originally from Udon Thani province in the northeast of Thailand but lives right now in Bangkok. During the last weeks she has been commuting between her home there and Bangkok as she is doing a training as a professional masseuse.
Kate has some fetish about tidyness. A couple of weeks ago she came over to my place on Sunday and helped me to clean my room. Up to that day I had never seen somebody cleaning even the walls with the vacuum cleaner. But I can`t complain. After one hour my apartment was as clean as an OR in the hospital.
As she lives close to the party center, she is almost always alvailable for a fun night out.
It`s always good to have her coming with you as she is one of the most loyal friends I have and she would never let me down. For a ladyboy that might be even more important than for other people. Going out together as some kind of team watching each others back, hair and backup is important. Sometimes when weg go out together and meet foreign men, sit down with them and chat I feel kind of sad, that her ability of speaking English is rather limited. That`s sad because her jokes are great and in Thai language she has a lot to say and a really surprising knowledge about the world and how things work in it that a lot of other people have not.
Technorati: Ladyboy katoey thai thailand bangkok kate portrait
Ladyboys and violence
During the past weeks I recognized again that there are some Ladyboys out there who don`t hesitate to use violence to settle an argument. It`s not that I had not known before. Those incident will most often happen in the red light industry rather than in everydays life. No need to tell, that this field of business is pretty tough and one got to be strong to survive and send some money home to he poor families. Drugs don`t help much to create a balanced mind.
I know that writing these lines won`t help much to tear down those cliches the world has on Thai Ladyboys. But it would be dishonest and not authentic I we would not mention this facette of Katoey life as well.
I guess the worst fights occur between Ladyboys. Just a couple of weeks ago I have been threatened myself with physical aggression without any reason but managed to escape.
Yesterday I came past another scene of Ladyboy violence where one of the contrahents was heavily bleeding from a wound in her face.
To see and experience that, makes me really sad. Instead of sticking together and supporing each other (like me and my friends do) they harm each other.
But what are the triggers for that?
First of all, even in Thailand growing up as a member of the third sex is emotionally hard to take. In the West support by a therapist is mandatory but over here in Thailand backup by family and friends is the only help one can expect. Most of the times evereything works out well and the young katoey can grew up just as happy as other girls. But for some childhood turns out to be hell. Not only that they never get the support they need but they also get obstacles thrown in their ways. No doubt that this can lead later to a behaviour that hurts others and themselves.
Also, Ladyboys know what it`s like growing up and living as a Ladyboy. So they know were to find the weak points in other Katoey. If there`s an argument they know which words to use to really hurt the opponent which will often lead to an escalation.
The reasons as manifold as with men and women.
When they tried to attack me the last time I am proud to say that I had been for jealousy ;-).
Some think of us as mythical creatures but we are humans like everybody else, though some of us rather look like angels.
Technorati: ladyboy kathoey katoey thai thailand violence
Ladyboy Hot Spots in Bangkok
Somehow it`s strange. I have been living in different parts of Bangkok during the last years and it seems like the density of ladyboy prevalence is not everywhere the same.
Around the Victory Monument are definetly a lot. Sometime it`s difficult to spott hem/us but we are there. I had not been aware of this myself, but on Loi Kratong night – the romantic Festival of Lights at the end of November – It´s THE night vor all transgender girls to dress them up full gear and go out. That had been relly amazing as you could see in all Sois beautiful angels in long dresses and perfect make-up.
Later I moved rather to the outer ring of Bangkok to Suanluang area. I lived there for one year and I never saw a ladyboy in the whole neighborhood. So I was alone. This had been neither a disadvantage nor an advantage. But it was strabge as I was used to stumble every 10 minutes upon a sister back were I lived before.
Now I live pretty close to Khao San Road the notorious backpacker trap. Over I I can count to 10 and will see another ladyboy. And we know each other, so every minute I meet another friend an chat with her. Even in my condominium there live at least two teenage ladyboys and there are some more younger boys who have this definetly as there future.
Technorati: ladyboy bangkok victory monument katoey thai thailand
Transsexuals in Malaysia
The situation for ladyboys in Malaysia is not that good as everybody knows. Just recently there have been 16 transgender contestants arrested at a Transsexual Beauty Pageant by the Kelantan Islamic Religious Affairs Department. See the story here.
So what are the facts? I just found a nice article by Dina Zaman about that topic in the Star Online.
The collected the facts and she did it so good that I allow myself to quote her:
In Malaysia, derogatory slang to describe them would be pondans, laki lembut or mak nyah, though the latter term has been embraced by the community as an identifying factor in their cause.
The fact is, transsexuals have existed in our society even before Independence, and played a significant role in the community.
They’re the dapur pondans – kitchen helpers – who worked for families as cooks and cleaners in a long gone era, and in villages were known as meks, who acted as the local tailor, make-up artist and wedding planner.
It is fascinating to compare the fond memories of the older generation of Malaysians who grew up with transsexuals as neighbours and domestic help.
The argument that is bandied in contemporary Malaysia is that they knew their place, and were not ‘out there’ now as transsexuals who – as moralists have argued – contribute to moral decay.
From a religious standpoint, transsexualism is forbidden. Islam permits hermaphrodites to undergo sex change operations so the person can choose to be either a female or male.
Forbidden are mukhannis – men who behave like women and dress like them, and even undergoing sex change surgery to become women.
Non-Muslim transsexuals fare slightly better than their Muslim counterparts, as there is no official ruling as with the Muslims, even though their religions also forbid such actions. If caught, they would be charged for cross dressing and indecent behaviour under Section 21 of the Minor Offences Act 1955.
A Muslim man caught cross dressing can be charged under Section 28, Syariah Criminal Offences (FT) Act 1997, for immoral behaviour, and is liable to a fine not exceeding RM1,000 or to imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both.
That`s how it is. Seems like there is a lot to change and improve. But instead to rules are becoming even more rigid.
Technorati: ladyboys transsexual malaysia pondans laki lembut mak nyah rights law
Ladies and Gentlemen: Tammy!
It`s time again to introduce on more of my friends to you: Tammy. She is 27 and a preety calm one. She`s laughing a lot and once in a while she comes up with jokes that are so sarcastic that I could never make them up.
Two months ago she has changed her job and now works in a nice guesthouse in the Khao San Road area, where she is doing a pretty good job. No one of the customers treats her differnet, may be because westerners can not tell that she is a Ladyboy or just don`t expect it.
She is more the type for relaxed activities such as long dinners with friends or going to the movies. She is also a good shopping partner and always gives good advice, what to buy.
A couple of weeks ago she broke up with her boyfriend with who she had been together with for some years. You could not tell that she was sad and nobody of the others knew about the end of her long-term relationsship. She just told it to me and I tried my very best to cheer her up again.
Today, she can laugh again.
Technorati: thailand thai ladyboy katoey kathoey tammy khao san
Where does the hate come from?
A pretty unsettling thin happened to me last Saturday: As I wrote in an earlier post, I joined a volunteer paramedic service in Bangkok. We where called out to famous Khao San Road and found a Ladyboy lying unconsciuos and obviously pretty intoxicated on the sidewalk while her friend – a Ladyboy, too – tried her best to comfort her. I knew them both as we are close friends. There was not much that we could do to help her than waiting until the alcohol left her blood. She never drinks and a couple of sips at a Saeng Som-Cocktail had been enough to knock her out.
We just could cool her forehead with a cool towel and protect her dignity. As I mentioned in that earlier post, nobody in the mostly male staff of our medical team cares whether someone is male, female or a Ladyboy. They were all very caring for that young lady who really must have felt terrible (I talked to her for more than an hour the next day, and she really felt miserable) lying helplessly on the ground.
Than a guy, by his accent obviously British, approached me, looked down on our young Katoey patient and asked me: „Is he alright?“ I replied, that she was not in a good condition but we were taking care of her. He asked me ones more if „he“ was alright emphasizing the male pronoun even more. He kept on doing this until I had enough. Maybe he felt smart, that he regognized my usually very beautiful friend as a Ladyboy. But he way he looked down on her and and how he made fun of her made me loose my politeness and I told him to fuck off and called him an asshole.
He might have been drunk, but even then he has no right to disrespect a person on the ground bei it a ladyboy, boy or girl.
But when I turnde around I gladly recognized that not all people around the world are like this – at least in Thailand they are not, as my paramedic friends carefully refreshed her with a wet towel and gave her a massage in order to bring her back to life and grace.
Technorati: hate disrespect ladyboy katoey thai thailand khao san road
Another young Transsexual murdered
Sad news today. Another beautiful Transgender has been shot in Southeast Memphis at July 1st. She went by the name of Ebony was just 20 years old.
Ebony's mug-shot, taken during a previous arrest for prostitution, shows a beautiful young African-American woman, with reddish streaks in her long blonde hair, arched brows, perfectly applied eyeshadow and lip liner and a gold necklace with tiny butterflies on it.
The most probable reason that led to her death is certainly that she ran across a man who wanted female company. And he thought he had a beautiful young lady. And in the midst of the moment, he found out Ebony wasn't a woman and got mad and shot her.
Another case of “gay panic” that we reported earlier about in the Gwen Araujo Story.
Technorati: hate crime gay panic memphis murder transgender transsexual ebony
