LADYBOYS

BORN TO BE A WOMAN

Thailand's Buddhist majority displays what may be the world's most tolerant attitude towards what locals call kathoey, loosely translated as "ladyboys." The term, which does not have an exact counterpart in English, refers to people who are born physiologically male  but, as one Thai saying goes, "have a female heart." Kathoeys include  everyone from occasional cross-dressers to those who have completed gender-reassignment  surgery.
The term "Kathoey" was used in pre-modern times to refer to intersexuals, and then the usage has changed in the middle of the twentieth century to cover cross-dressing males. Although kathoeys do face some stigma and bureaucratic hurdles in Thailand — those who have undergone sex-change  operations, for example, are still listed as men on their national I.D. cards

The term can refer to males who exhibit varying degrees of femininity — many Kathoeys dress as women and undergo feminising medical procedures such as hormone replacement therapy, breast implants, buttock augmentation, genital reassignment surgery, or Adam's apple reductions. Others may wear makeup and use feminine pronouns, but dress as men, and are closer to the western category of effeminate gay man than transgender.Kathoeys work in predominately female occupations, such as in shops, restaurants and beauty salons, but also in factories. Kathoeys also work in the entertainment sector and at tourist centers, cabarets — such as the Alcazar in Pattaya, wich is among the best known.
Kathoeys are more visible and more accepted in the Thai culture than transgender or transsexual people are in Western countries.
This acceptance is due to the nature of the surrounding Buddhist culture, which places a high value on tolerance.Several popular Thai models, singers and movie stars are Kathoeys, and Thai newspapers often print photos of female beauty winners and Kathoey beauty contests side by side. The phenomenon is not restricted to urban areas; there are Kathoeys in most villages, and Kathoey beauty contests are commonly held as part of local fairs.