Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
POP'S CULTURE: LIFE AS A LADYBOY
Pop, age 45, is what Thais call a
gà·teu·i,
usually referred to as a 'ladyboy' in English. Thailand's transgender
population is the subject of many debates and conversations, especially among tourists. Although tolerance is
widespread in Buddhist Thailand, concealed homophobia prevails - for
gà·teu·i,
this can be a challenging life,
with the entertainment and sex industries the only lucrative career avenues. We spent the day with Pop and got
the skinny on what life was really like as a member of Thailand's oft-talked-about 'third sex'.
Let's start with a question that many tourists in Thailand would like to ask: why
does there seem to be so many ga·teu·i in Thailand?
Well, that's like asking me why I am a ladyboy! I have no idea. I didn't ask to have these feelings. I think the
more important thing to notice is why there are so many ladyboys in the cabaret or sex industry. First, however,
let me start by staying that the word
gà·teu·i
is the informal way of saying 'person with two sexes'; the term
pôo
yĭng kâhm pêt
is generally more polite. Also,
gà·teu·i
is strictly reserved for people who still have male body parts
but dress as female, so I am not technically
gà·teu·i
anymore.
Most tourists think that there are tonnes of ladyboys in Thailand because they are in places that many tourists
visit. Yes, some ladyboys want to be cabaret dancers, just like some women want to be cabaret dancers, but most
of them don't. These types of jobs are the only ones available to ladyboys, and the pay is lousy. Life is not as
'Hollywood' for a ladyboy as it may seem on stage. Most ladyboys don't have the chance to have a job that is re-
spected by the community. We are not allowed to become doctors or psychologists and most corporations do not
allow ladyboy employees because they don't want
gà·teu·i
to be associated with their company's image. Since
many of us cannot have proper jobs, many ladyboys drop out of school at a young age, and lately this educational
gap in the culture has become huge. Ladyboys work in the sex industry because they aren't given the opportunity
to make a lot of money doing something else. I feel like a second-class citizen; we are not allowed to use male
or
female bathrooms! I used to have to climb 14 flights of stairs to use the special ladyboys' bathroom at my old
job! Also, Thai law states that my ID cards and passport must always have an 'M' for male because the definition
of a female in Thailand is someone who can bear children. It's hard for me to leave the country because my pass-
port says 'male' but I look like a female. They will never let me through security because it looks like a fraudu-
lent passport.
How does one tell the difference between a ladyboy and a woman?
Sometimes it's really hard to tell…a ladyboy can be more beautiful than a woman! There is no set way to figure it
out, unless you ask them for their ID card. These days, doctors are really starting to perfect the operations, and the
operations are expensive - mine was 150,000B! I had the 'snip', then I had breast implants, my Adam's apple
was shaved off, and I also had a nose job (I didn't like my old nose anyway). Other operations available include
silicone implants in the hips, jaw narrowing, cheekbone shaving and chin sculpting - to make it rounder. But be-
fore anyone can have an operation, you have to have a psych evaluation. The operation was extremely painful. I
spent seven days in the hospital and it took me about two months to fully recover. Younger patients tend to heal
faster - I was about 40 years old when I had the operation.
What do you feel is the biggest misconception about gà·teu·i?
This is an easy question. The biggest misconception is that we are all promiscuous whores and liars. Like any hu-
man being, we are just looking for love. It is true that many ladyboys do try to trick the people around them, but
this is because they are afraid of being rejected for who they really are. Also, many of them lie because they des-
perately want to be real women, but they will never be real women. I know that - that's why I always show the
real me - I am comfortable with who I am. I wish everyone else would be too.
As told to Brandon Presser
