What is a Kathoey?

The Kathoey or Kaetoy has attained a prominence in Thai society that is probably unknown for TGs elsewhere in the world. In Bangkok and other urban centres they go about their business – shopping, meeting friends, going to the cinema, eating and drinking in cafes, using public transport, visiting the temple – without passers-by raising so much as an eyebrow. One may be served by them at a café, market stall, or boutique.

Most Kathoey's present outwardly as entirely female – in terms of hair (often long), dress, cosmetics, manner, gait, gestures, voice, stereotyped personality traits (Winter and Udomsak, 2002) and interests (including vocational). When they speak they employ a female tone and vocabulary, employing word-forms normally restricted to females. A very large number of them take hormones, sometimes from as early as 10 years of age. Many of those who are able to afford cosmetic surgery do so. A rather smaller number undergo sex reassignment surgery.

This outward presentation as female reflects their sense of identity. Our own most recent research on 165 kathoey (mean age 25 years) reveals that, by age 10, 71% felt different to other boys, 42% thought they had the mind either of a girl or a kathoey (or a related term), and 35% already thought of themselves as belonging to one of those gender categories. Around 70% of our sample said they would ideally want to be a woman and indeed be re-born as one. The vast majority saw themselves living as women or kathoey for the rest of their lives. In short our kathoey typically developed their transgendered feelings early in life, saw their feelings as long term, and desired to be re-born female.

It has been reported that there are now some 10,000 kathoey living in Thailand (Ehrlich, 1996). This figure is almost certainly an underestimate. I have heard informal estimates as high as 300,000. Turning first to the more extreme end of the gender-transition continuum, there are an indeterminate number of government and private hospitals which offer sex re-assignment surgery. The three most active surgeons in this field have together performed around 2000 operations (Fiona Kim, 2001, personal communication). At the other end of the continuum, Matzner (1999) reports that one provincial Thai university of 15000 students boasts a ‘sorority’ for over 100 MtF students (most at an early stage in transition). This represents around one in 150 students overall, and a rather larger proportion of the males!

Each year there are several ‘kathoey’ beauty contests throughout Thailand, in some cases drawing hundreds of entrants. The two best-known (Miss Tiffany and Miss Alcazar) are televised and/or recorded for later sale in mainstream record and video stores. Kathoey have been a regular feature of TV shows for years, albeit often as comic figures. Indeed the Thai Government at times seems a little uncomfortable with the high cultural profile occupied by kathoey. It recently advised television stations to curb appearances of kathoey – real or acted - on shows.

Many thanks to Associate Professor Sam Winter of the University of Hong Kong for permission to use an excerpt from his research report on Kathoey’s in Thailand.  A full copy of the transcript can be found at:

http://web.hku.hk/~sjwinter/Transgender ASIA/country_report_thailand.htm

References.

Ehrlich, R. (1996). Thailand’s secret sex. Elle Magazine UK, June: 42-48.

Matzner, A. (web resource) Roses of the North: the katoey of Chiang Mai University.

http://home.att.net/~leela2/roses.htm

Winter,S. and Udomsak, N. (2002). Male, Female and Transgender : Stereotypes and Self in Thailand. International Journal of Transgenderism, 6,1.

http://www.symposion.com/ijt/ijtvo06no01_04.htm