Umm… Thai Ladyboys?? (only read this post if you want some more info about what a ladyboy is and how they fit into Thai culture)

So, never heard of Thai Ladyboys? No worries, we were kind of out of the loop too. In Thailand, ladyboys are VERY common. Many Thai men decide to become “ladyboys”, which essentially means some of the men have operations (breast implants etc), while others simply dress the part. Essentially some Thai men dress as women – in Phuket many dress in extravagant outfits to impress the tourists or put on shows, but most simply walk around the streets of Thailand like any other woman. We were kinda shocked to see how readily accepted this is in Thai culture, as in North America there is still a discomfort with this sort of thing. We were also surprised to see that it was only men that participated in this behaviour as no equivalent practice was established for Thai women. Additionally shocking was that many of the ladyboys were very beautiful. Some further along in the transformation were so ladylike it was hard to tell that they were once men at all. It helped further emphasize the idea for us that you can be beautiful no matter who you are J