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Thailand Musings I first went to Thailand in 1997 and immediately fell in love with the country. Thailand at that time to me was mysterious and exotic, full of potentials and pitfalls. Fast forward to 2010 and here I am after 13 years and many trips to the LOS sharing, with the help of my Thai wife Golf, my experiences and knowledge with you here at Thailand Musings. Thailand may have lost some mystery for me, but it is still exotic and wonderful and I will always remember that first feeling when I stepped out into the Bangkok smog for the first time. I have yet to learn everything about Thailand and thankfully for all of us Golf is here to correct me when I err.

24 March 2008 ~ 12 Comments

Are All Ladyboys Prostitutes?

Cabaret Kathoey

It seems that many of the men that visit Thailand have a preconceived notion that all of Thailand‘s ladyboys are also prostitutes. It’s true that normally foreign men only meet the ladyboys that work in bars and restaurants, however this is only a small percentage of all the kathoeys in Thailand.

I’ve met and been talking with several ladyboys on Hi5 and they cannot understand why so many think that just because they are kathoey’s they are prostitutes as well. This isn’t just limited to foreigners either, I’ve been told that many Thai’s hold this preconception.

When spying a ladyboy in tourist areas or going out late at night, immediately the idea that she is a prostitute starts to circulate. Why would people think this just because the person is a ladyboy?

I can tell you from my conversations this makes many of them quite sad. Thai ladyboys may be different from you and I that’s true, but in many ways they are the same too. They have the same feelings, needs and wants as most people. Many of them are looking for a stable relationship and would love to settle down with someone special.

Most ladyboys work in traditional jobs such as clerical staff, hairdressers or waitresses and they work very hard, just like the rest of us. It’s not fair that they have to labor under two prejudices. They are thought of poorly because of their lifestyle choice and then to compound this prejudice are often thought of as prostitutes.

I have no idea how many kathoeys exactly work as prostitutes in Thailand and yes the number is probably statistically higher than men and women, however most are still just normal hard working people. Please consider this the next time you meet a ladyboy, don’t immediately assume that they are looking to sell sex because you might be hurting, embarrassing and humiliating a very nice person.

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About the Author

Steve started Thailand Musings in 2006 after meeting and marrying Golf on the site Thai Love Links. The site was started as a way to share information about Thailand, it's people, culture and traditions and has grown substantially since that time. As a long time visitor to the Kingdom Steve hopes you enjoy his thoughts and observations about Thailand and it's culture. He can be contacted here.

12 Responses to “Are All Ladyboys Prostitutes?”

  1. Chani 24 March 2008 at 5:16 pm Permalink

    What is Hi5 ?

  2. Steve 24 March 2008 at 6:03 pm Permalink

    Hi5 is a social network similar to MySpace or Facebook, but much more popular than those two in Asia and South America. You can see my profile here ->http://thaimusings.hi5.com You might have thought it would be http://thailandmusings.hi5.com, but that one was already taken – by Golf!

    Feel free to come on over and join us.

  3. Talen 24 March 2008 at 7:10 pm Permalink

    I think most uninformed men see it as a sexual choice hence they think they are all in the game unfortunately. It probably doesn’t help that most ladyboys gravitate to areas where they are more accepted and those areas tend to be the areas where the sex scenes are.

    I’ve seen a couple ladyboys up in the north east but they all seemed to be low key due to the village life. In Bangkok I’ve run into many working in the malls and restaurants and then there are the ladyboy shows which are quite good and all about entertainment not sex.

  4. Steve 26 March 2008 at 11:32 am Permalink

    A lot of the ladyboys in Thailand are low key, unfortunately most foreigners only see the ones in the sex areas or only notice those because they are of course much more flamboyant.

    I’ve also run into many ladyboys working in malls and restaurants and they all seem to be very nice people. Add to that my friends on Hi5 who I know are very nice people and just want to have a normal life. I sometimes feel sorry for the ladyboys…I mean they just want to be accepted for what they are, and isn’t that true for most of us?

  5. Dan Dayan 16 May 2008 at 9:55 am Permalink

    Asian ladyboys are beutiful and very kind hearted.
    I admire their beauties, I ove them honor them and love them.If I were not a married person, certainly I would have love to marry a ladyboy from Thailand.
    They are unique in the whole world!
    Dan Dayan

  6. richard 26 October 2008 at 5:35 am Permalink

    i think ladyboy is a woman captured in man body, as a human being i agree we need to respect them. But they need to understand too that image of prostitute lies on them because a lot of ladyboy is a prostitutes. And they been exploitated too by advertisement.
    It’s quite hard but that’s the fact, not a lot of ladyboy get a change to get a good opportunity for education and job and yes prostitute is the easy way.
    At least that what i saw in thailand, Lot’s of ladyboy offering a sexual pleasure even it’s for free…
    So, i guess they need to show the positive side more than the prostitute side.

  7. nat 28 April 2009 at 3:05 am Permalink

    no not all ladyboys are prostitues but yes maybe most of them work as a prostitues becoz of their finance problem they need money for their poor family but some ladyboy works as usual job like hairstylish, makeup artist, costume designer and others even most of the job is a freelance job becoz thai company doesn’t accept ladyboy to be their officer i am thai ladyboy and i don’t like when foreigner misunderstood that all thai ladyboys are hookers i feel so bad hearing that i hope if anyone here read this and understand thai ladyboy much better

  8. Ross 10 June 2009 at 10:53 pm Permalink

    I would like to correspond witha decent ladyboy. Does anyone know of a site where it is possible to meet someoen decent online?

  9. johnboy 27 June 2009 at 4:48 pm Permalink

    There is a website called meet lady boy, just google it, it’s not but 2-3 years old, but it’s very active. You will run into all types, so be cauttous. Some want to go cam to cam for money, some will run a sob story on you. But, there are a lot of nice ones registered on that site!!!

  10. deadale 6 November 2009 at 7:03 am Permalink

    i don’t think so, some aren’t..
    great post,very liberating :)

  11. hi5 24 June 2010 at 9:01 am Permalink

    an very interesting blog u have heare man thanks for the good information ,i’ve subscribed

  12. Martin 23 July 2010 at 5:44 pm Permalink

    6 years ago i married a ladyboy,and we still havent stopped loving each other since.
    I wish i met her earlier as i would had had a much happier life.
    Each day i wake up and see her i realise how lucky i am to be with her,and i tell her i love her more each day.She was never a prostitute,and i was her first man she has been with. She has many friends back in Thailand who are ladyboys,some were prostitutes but have since quit,as they met people who they feel will treat them well.


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