Kathoey
Kathoey
Kathoey refers to a male-to-female transgender person in Thailand. The term, generally used, refers to the person as still being male. Similar terms exist in Thai culture: “sao praphet song” (“a second kind of woman”) denotes a female sex identity while “phet thee sam” (“third sex”) denotes a third gender unto itself. Kathoey, a somewhat mutable term, can also indicate an effeminate gay male, or a transvestite male, and can cover individuals along the entire spectrum of gender transition. Some have undergone or are undergoing feminizing medical procedures such as hormone replacement therapy, breast implants, genital reassignment surgery, or Adam’s apple reductions. Other kathoey may wear makeup and use feminine pronouns but dress as men.
Kathoey are often identified at a young age and are considered to be “born that way.” They are much more visible and accepted than transsexuals are in Western countries or the Indian subcontinent. This is not just true in the cities; there are kathoeys in most villages and kathoey beauty contests are commonly held as part of local fairs. In addition, several popular Thai models, singers, and film stars are kathoeys. Some believe that this high level of social acceptance is due to the nature of the surrounding Buddhist culture, which places a high value on tolerance. We find no reason to disagree with such a sentiment.
While many Thai families (especially fathers) may feel the old disappointment if their son is found to be a kathoey, the majority of the society is accepting. Legal recognition of kathoeys, however, is nonexistent: they’re not allowed to change their legal sex. In 2007, however, legislative efforts to allow kathoeys to change their legal sex (if they’ve undergone genital reassignment surgery) began in earnest.
On July 29th of this year, BBC News reported on the Kampang Secondary School in northeast Thailand. Most of its pupils are the children of farmers. There is nothing unusual about the school or its history. Until now. A group of schoolboys identifying themselves as transsexuals were often teased by the other boys while in the restroom. So the headmaster made a bold decision. He had a third restroom built. So now, between the girls’ toilet and the boys’, there is one signposted with a half-man, half-woman figure in blue and red.
(If you can’t see the above image, click here.)
It is estimated that in any year, between ten and twenty percent of the boys at the school consider themselves transgender. The youngest self-declared transsexual this year is twelve years old. The headmaster, asked if the boys were not too young to be making decisions about their gender, replied that in his thirty-five years of working in the Thai education system, he had come across many boys like this and they never changed. He went on to point out that many go on, as adults, to have sex-change surgery while others will live as gay men.
It’s refreshing to hear of an authority figure with a grandly enlightened mind. The headmaster of the Kampang Secondary School is one of the few.
Saturday, August 23, 2008