Kharom "Hannah" Phudanelin is 19 years old. She lives with her family.
"Winnie" Pornteawa (23 years old), who may also go by the name "Fang Key," was a freelance
sex worker. According to other ladyboys, several weeks after this photograph was made she
was arrested for possession of amphetamines. They say she is now serving a five-year prison
sentence.
Wanchai "Poppy" Namdech (30 years old) is a tall kathoey who works part-time at a bar on Soi
Cowboy, an area that caters to fahrang (foreigners).
Sex for Sale
Many ladyboys participate in Bangkok's highly visible tourist sex industry, which contributes
significantly to the nation's gross domestic product. More kathoeys probably work in the much
larger but more hidden domestic sex trade—the vast majority of prostitution in Thailand occurs
between Thai clients and Thai sex workers.
Kathoey sex-workers may find employment in a variety of venues, including karaoke bars,
brothels, "beer bars" and go-go bars. Those who choose to work independently find clients by
posting advertisements and/or soliciting on the streets. Freelance activities may involve more
risk, but they can be more lucrative and offer an independent lifestyle.
It is not uncommon for unmarried Thai women in different professions to do causal sex work in
addition to their primary employment. The stigma against sex work is not as strong in Thailand
as it is in western countries, and the activity is normalized in society. For some causal sex
workers, the prime motivation is to supplement their incomes. To others, the work is done
primarily for pleasure and is conducted exclusively with clients they find attractive. These same
dynamics and practices are seen in kathoey communities.
While officially illegal under Thai law, sex work is largely tolerated and practiced extensively
within Thailand's culture of rampant corruption.
"BB" Pawares (22 years old) is a student of computer science and internet technology
At night she does sex work to fund her education.
"New" Popze (then 23 years old) worked as a cashier at a 7-Eleven store. She had never
done sex work. A year later she had been initiated into the scene, and was working "freelance."
The adult tourism quartier along Sukhumvit Road in the central Khlong Toei district flashes and
throbs with noise and neon. Every night the areas around the tourist bars and discos are
flooded with aggressive hustlers and international revelers in various stages of drunkenness. At
Nana Plaza, one of city's major red-light districts, kathoeys work as "bargirls" and go-go
dancers. Nana Plaza, a U-shaped, three-story complex, has eight venues that exclusively employ
ladyboys.
By late morning, Nana Plaza is deserted. Later in the afternoon the businesses begin to awaken
and preparations are made for the night's coming onslaught. On the top floor a kathoey hair
salon is the first business to unshutter its façade. Beneath the clipping of hairdressers, I
interviewed kathoeys and invited them to be photographed.
Pursuing Body Transformations
The use of sex hormones and hormonal medications is widespread in kathoey communities.
Some kathoeys also undergo plastic surgeries to modify their appearance. These surgeries
include sculpting bone structures, lip, hip and breast implants, and vaginoplasties, operations
where vulvas and vaginas are formed from existing genitals.
Thailand's cosmetic and plastic surgery industries are booming. Many international visitors
come to Bangkok to undergo procedures. Ladyboys from other Southeast Asian countries (as
well as transgender people in Europe and North America) consider traveling to Thailand for
surgeries. Low costs, a wide range of services, and the quality of procedures done in the best
clinics bolster the local industry.
But results are not always satisfactory. A United States-based plastic surgeon who specializes in
transgender operations spoke to me on the matter. "There is a mixture of results from Thailand
surgeons. Some great, some horrible. In the past patients felt it was the only affordable choice
for them, even with travel expenses. Medical tourism has a lot of problems though."
In 2003 the Bangkok Post reported that an unlicensed nurse was being prosecuted for
performing breast implant surgeries in her car. And in 2017 the same newspaper reported
another case where police "arrested a 29-year-old man in Pattaya for pretending to be a
surgeon in a Lampang clinic and attempting to perform a breast implant operation on a
transgender woman who later died after the procedure."
Soktawi "Drem" Potasri (17 years old) was initially photographed in 2017 with her older sister Minny (24 years old), who is also a kathoey. At that time Drem was unemployed and living with Minny and their parents. A year later she was working in retail sales. Drem left high school before completing a degree.
Thayakorn "Tos" Nira (21 years old) is employed as a custodian at a BTS Skytrain station. She participated in an outdoor photo shoot against the white wall on Soi Wutthakat 14 while wearing pajamas
Older Ladyboys […] Finished session around 14:30. Later in the afternoon I met Linda and this group [of older ladyboys] at Sukumvit Soi 4. Lin wanted to take them to Patpong and have me split the taxi fare. I was packed into the back of a taxi with four, hard-worked, elderly ladyboys who hadn't showered in god knows how long. They were cackling like witches. They work as "jokers" at a cabaret. Lin, who serves as a younger, well-connected advocate, was trying to find a new job for one of oldest and "most pitiful" of the group. Linda says there aren't many old ladyboys in Bangkok because they "die early from [the] hormones" they take.
Tomei (30 years old) has done sex work for over 10 years. She is a "top" and enjoys dominating
men. She does S&M and has participated in sex parties with up to ten people ("six men and four
ladyboys"). Tomei had had sex three times in the evening before our first early morning
photography session. Though she was initially exhausted, Tomei contributed a long interview
and became invested in recounting several pivotal romantic relationships.
She once lived with a boyfriend from Ireland. He was "bi-polar" and prone to violent outbursts.
"He threw things but never hit me," Tomei recalled. She says she tried to take care of him and
secure the "medicine" he needed.
Tomei had another Irish boyfriend who was arrested for disorderly conduct and was set to be
deported from Thailand. Tomei bribed the police with 10,000 baht and secured the 21-year-old
man's release. This was all of Tomei's savings along with additional money that was donated by
her ladyboy friends.
Tomei said both of these Irish boyfriends left without warning and never contacted her again.
At the time of the interview, she hadn't had a boyfriend in three years and was "very lonely."
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