The Thai Kathoey is a mysterious group, "they" are gorgeous and can sing and dance; but who can understand the bitterness and hardship of those who have become kathoeys? Are they men or women? How do they become kathoeys? Their deformed bodies have created a deformed inner world for them. Who has discovered the tears in their hearts...
Thailand is a small country with only 60 million people, yet it attracts 7 million foreign tourists every year. Tourism revenue amounts to as high as 7 billion US dollars annually, becoming a pillar of Thailand's economy. The tourism industry in Thailand is extremely rich in local characteristics, among which the most astonishing is the famous "kathoey" performance. The emergence of kathoeys is due to the rampant sex tourism industry in Thailand, where women can earn a lot of money in this line of work. Therefore, some men resort to all means to transform themselves into "women" for survival; and some human traffickers also go to great lengths to abduct and create kathoeys for profit. Thus, this special group of kathoeys gradually came into being. By the 1990s, there were already 20,000 kathoeys in Thailand, aged between 14-50 years old, mainly concentrated in Pattaya's kathoey song and dance troupes, bars, and nightclubs. Tourists visiting Thailand see a different side of kathoeys compared to their glamorous stage performances. Beneath the extremely beautiful and enchanting appearance of kathoeys, the vast majority have heart-wrenching stories. There are two main reasons why boys become kathoeys: poverty or congenital gender confusion. They appear gorgeous and charming, but few understand the hardships and bitterness behind their forced smiles.
In Thailand, almost only children from poor families become kathoeys. Parents who cannot see a future and are desperate due to poverty will raise their good-looking sons as girls, hoping that "she" will grow up to be a cash cow for the family. Their tragic fate is decided when they are just 2 or 3 years old. Boys with delicate features and beauty are sent to specialized kathoey schools for strict training at the age of seven or eight. As they grow older, they start consuming hormones, getting injections, and some even undergo surgery, making them look completely like women externally. They rely entirely on their youth to make a living, having only a few glorious years in their lives. Once they grow old, lose their beauty, and fail to attract audiences, they are eliminated, and new kathoeys take their place. This is the reality of Thailand's kathoeys.
Are kathoeys male or female? Human or monster? But as we set aside these difficult-to-resolve debates, they give us a kind of alternative beauty, a kind of deformed beauty... What are the physiological differences between kathoeys and us? There are three levels of kathoeys.