men dressed and made-up as women) undergoing a simple hormone replacement therapy, or “transsexuals” who have had breasts created by plastic surgery.
The final step is simply too expensive – and presumably painful – for most .
Thanks to the tolerant nature of Buddhist culture, ladyboys – just like gays – are far more visible and accepted in Thai society than transvestites or transsexuals in Western countries.
While the phenomenon isn’t restricted to urban areas and you can come across a ladyboy in virtually any small village in the countryside, tourist places like Pattaya or Bangkok – worldwide (in)famous for their raunchy nightlife – certainly attract an unusually large number of Thailand’s unique “women of the second category”.
Although not specifically designated to ladyboys, especially the areas of Soi 6, Walking Street, or Pattaya Beach Road after sunset, attract a disproportionally large number of ladyboy sex workers.
Born as true men, some say, know best how to satisfy a man, using and giving access to all orifices of the body.
At least from a distance, ladyboys are arguably among the most attractive “women” you will come across in Pattaya.
Tall and leggy as supermodels and with perfectly-shaped silicone boobs, they’re often more beautiful than the “real thing”.
Just like many Thai women who have come to work as prostitutes in Pattaya, many Thai ladyboys work as freelance prostitutes on Pattaya Beach Road or Walking Street.
Others have “regular” jobs in beer bars or Go Go bars where they often mix with the “real” girls and sometimes make it hard for punters to decide if that half-naked, big-busted hottie is Pattaya’s latest candidate for the “Miss Thailand” contest or just a convincingly made-up bloke with boobs?