Network of Transgender Women of Thailand Calls For End To Transphobic Education Uniform Regulations

TransGriot Note: Yep, even in the ostensibly transgender friendly 'Land Of Smiles' we have to fight tooth and nail for our basic human rights. An interesting December 11 story from The Nation.

The Network of Transgender Women of Thailand has urged the Education Ministry and universities to cancel regulations forcing transgender persons to wear male uniforms to classrooms, exams and graduation ceremonies.

Network chairperson Yollada Suanyot said yesterday they had received complaints from transgender students, alumni and lecturers about the regulations, which she believes stem from society's misunderstanding of transgender, identified medically as transsexuฌalism.

She claimed people with transgender inclination needed therapy before undergoing a gender change and to dress and live according to their sexual inclinations.

She said the universities' dress code violated their rights and obstructed the treatment of transsexualism. As a result, she said, many transgender youths did not want to study further.

Yollada said the network had submitted an appeal to Education Minister Jurin Laksanawisit on Wednesday. However, Jurin said he hadn't yet received it and would look into the issue today.

She added that the network had asked the Royal Household Bureau if transgender people could wear female uniforms in a graduation ceremony. They were told the bureau did not limit people's rights and that they should contact the Education Ministry and universities about the matter, she said.

Thammasat University (TU) vice president Parinya Thewanaruemitkul said his institution didn't object to transgender students wearing female uniforms - but those who hadn't undergone a gender change could not stay in girls' dorms or use women's toilets.

Parinya said universities would be willing to comply with a request by the Royal Household Bureau or Education Ministry.

The Miss International Queen Pageant Is Back!

After a year's absence due to political turmoil in Thailand, the 2009 edition of the Miss International Queen transgender pageant will finally take place.

The pageant has garnered international media attention in its short existence and was missed by contestants and pageant fans alike.

The cool thing about this pageant and the Miss Tiffany's Universe one, which is reserved for Thai transwomen only, is that the winners of these pageants are treated with the same respect and attention as the ciswomen who represent Thailand in the Miss Universe and Miss World competitions.

There was a kick off press conference held October 2 in Bangkok for this 5th anniversary edition of Miss International Queen, which has become a prestigious title in the trans pageant world. The winner receives $10,000 USD plus prizes, and Tiffany's management reported they received 68 applications around the world from potential contestants interested in competing in this year's edition of Miss International Queen.

It was whittled down to the 25 contestants from 15 countries who will journey to Pattaya and Tiffany's Show Theatre October 26–31 to battle for the crown

Miss International Queen 2006

Since I mentioned the Miss International Queen Pageant in conjunction with the post I just composed about the 2007 Miss Tiffany Universe Pageant, thought I'd take a moment to drop some knowledge about it.

Thais, like Texans, Venezuelans and Puerto Ricans love pageants and take them seriously. Because of the increasing popularity and attention the Miss Tiffany's Universe pageant garnered across Asia Japanese and Korean transwomen entered the competition. The language barriers they encountered inspired the sponsors of the Miss Tiffany Universe Pageant to create the Miss International Queen one in 2004 and restrict the Miss Tiffany Universe to Thai contestants only.

For a three year old pageant, it has rapidly become a sought after title. It offers a $10,000 USD first place prize in addition to the trophy, crown and other prizes. Like its sister pageant Miss Tiffany International the finals are televised live on Thai television.

A similar four year old transgender beauty pageant in Manila, the Amazing Phillipines Beauty Contest sent its winner to the Miss International Queen.

The first Miss International Queen in 2004 was won by a Thai, Treechada Petcharat. In 2005 Mimi Marks from Chicago's Baton club and a former 1992 Miss Continental winnerwon over the Thai and Korean runners-up in what was considered by the Thais an upset.

In last year's Miss International Pageant held October 23-28 San Antonio based Erica Andrews, representing Mexico beat out Patricia Montecarlo from the Phillipines and the Thai rep Ratravee Jiraprapakul to take the crown.

The Donald may want to reconsider the 2004 decision made by the Miss Universe organization banning transwomen from participating. It was done in the wake of transwoman Chen Lili winning the Miss China pageant that qualified her to compete in Miss Universe several yers ago. Transgender pageants have not only grown and proliferated around the world since the 1980's, they are beginning to garner attention and stature that used to be reserved for the Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss America systems.

Miss Tiffany Universe 2007 Pageant

90 miles southeast of Bangkok lies the resort town of Pattaya, home to of one the first and more famous all-transgender cabaret shows in Thailand, Miss Tiffany's and its rival the Alcazar.

The transgender cabaret shows are popular with Asian and western tourists and regularly pack the 2000 seat auditoriums at both venues to see the Vegas and Parisian styled revues.

Since 1998 they have held a transgender beauty pageant there that draws contestants from all over Thailand and is a fundraiser for Thailand's Royal Sponsored AIDS Foundation. In addition part of its mission is to promote acceptance of transgender people worldwide.

The Miss Tiffamy's Universe Pageant has become so popular it is covered not only on local televison but has been mentioned on the BBC, CNN and other world newsgathering organizations. The pageant is limited to Thai contestants. In addition to offering the winner a 100,000 baht cash prize ($2,700 USD), a diamond studded crown, a trophy and a Mercedes-Benz car the Miss Tiffany winner is Thailand's representative in the Miss International Queen pageant open to transwomen around the globe that Thailand sometimesplays host to.

My homegirl Domanique Shappelle took home The Most Talented Title in the 2006 Miss International Queen pageant that was hosted in Thailand October 29 but my fellow Texan Erica Andrews, representing Mexico won it to the surprise of many Thai observers, who say that they have the prettiest transwomen on the planet.

The pageant has come a long way. The inaugural one couldn't even get local TV time while the 10th anniversary version, which was held earler this month had the finals televised live across Thailand and drew an estimated 25 million viewers.

It also received two major publicity boosts. One was courtesy of the now defunct Asiaweek newsmagazine. It asked its readers to judge who was prettier – Miss Thailand Universe 1999 Apisamai Srirangsan (a biowoman) or Miss Tiffany’s Universe 1999 Pattareeya Siringamwong. Surprisingly, the readers chose the Miss Tiffany's winner. The 1999 pageant also managed to get local TV coverage which was then picked up as a CNN newsfeed, catapulting the then unknown pageant into an international news event.

The Miss Tiffany's Universe title is considered a prestigious one among Thai transwomen and the competition for it is fierce. 60 girls showed up on May 7 vying to make the round of 30 for the nationally televised finals.

Thanyaras Jiraphatphakorn was crowned the new Miss Tiffany Universe on May 11. She answered in reponse to a question asked during the interview phase whether it was possible for a 'katoey' or 'ladyboy' to become a politician, "Sure, it is. In the future, there might be a prime minister who is a ladyboy."

However, she added that much depends on whether Thai society can change their negative views of katoeys.

"Society should judge people by what they do rather than considering what sex they are," said Thanyaras.

Amen to that and congratulations.

Thai Spice Girls Preach Transsexual Power

20th February 2007 17:04
Amy Bourke
From Pink News.co.uk




A girl band of transsexuals who model themselves on the Spice Girls are hoping to change social attitudes and achieve pop chart success in Thailand.

Venus Flytrap's five members were all born males and later underwent gender reassignment surgery.

Like the famous British group, they have onstage personas, namely Cool Venus, Naughty Venus, Posh Venus, Sweet Venus and Hot Venus.

They have achieved the dream of many a struggling artist and been snapped up by Sony BMG Music Entertainment, one of the world's biggest recording companies.

However, this is a purely commercial venture by a company looking to exploit a niche market in Thailand.

Sony auditioned 100 transsexual performers before selecting the final five, who later underwent a year of singing, dancing and acting lessons.

The band hope that their first single, 'Cause I'm Your Lady, will help to promote tolerance and inclusion of transsexuals in Thailand.

Their first album, Visa for Love, was released in December.

It has not had any chart success yet, but has earned the girls a lucrative concert deal, and has enjoyed repeat play on Bangkok's SkyTrain rail network

Sony's director for artists and repertoire Amonrat Homhoul told AFP: "It was not easy.

"Recording was time-consuming because the group members sing as women, but cannot keep their voices at a high pitch for more than a few hours.

"The response has been good, even if their songs aren't in the charts yet."

Thailand is believed to have the largest transsexual population in the world.

Experts estimate at least 10,000 trans people live in Thailand, though some put the figure at 10 times that.

Even the conservative number would mean that per capita, Thailand has many more transsexuals than most developed countries.

Although no-one is sure why Thailand attracts so many, part of the reason may be that medical treatments for sex change operations are extremely cheap.

They cost roughly 150,000 baht, (£2,000).

Some clinics in Pattaya will perform the surgery for as little as £500.

Thai people are often more tolerant of trangender people than other countries.

Transsexuals are known as "kathoey," and have special roles to play in village festivals, usually involving decorations or performances.
Transgender people are also often represented in the media and in public Thai life, but they can still draw negative attention.

More often than not their only option of work is dancing as exotic entertainers in cabaret revues.

Laws in Thailand are also heavily stacked against transgender people. They are not covered by rape laws, and are not allowed to marry.

The band's dream is that the music's appeal will extend to beyond the cabaret clubs tucked away in seedy red-light districts.

"I see being in Venus Flytrap as another chance for me, a ladyboy, to work in another field of entertainment other than cabarets and beauty pageants," Dhanade Ruangroongroj, or Cool Venus told AFP.

Krerkkong, who is studying for a masters in political science, said she hopes her experience with the band will help earn recognition for other transsexuals.

Ploypaitoon Moukprakaaiphed, or Hot Venus, lets us know why transsexuals do it better.

She told AFP she had the edge because, "I can sing both as a woman, and a man."


TransGriot Note: There's a glaring inaccuracy in this report. One of the paragraphs states that Thailand is believed to have the largest transgender population in the world. That's doubtful. The US alone has 300 million peeps and with a conservative estimate of one in 500 births being transgender that translates to roughly 2 million transpeeps in the US.