Nong Tum is perhaps the most internationally recognised Kathoey for her portrayal in the film Beautiful Boxer.

Kathoey or katoey (Thai: กะเทย; RTGS: Kathoei;[kàtʰɤːj]) is a Thai term that refers to a transgender person or an effeminate gay male in Thailand. While a significant number of Thais perceive kathoeys as belonging to a third gender, including many kathoeys themselves, others see them as either a kind of man or a kind of woman.^[1] Related phrases include sao (or phuying) praphet song (Thai: สาวประเภทสอง,"a second kind of woman"), or phet thi sam (Thai: เพศที่สาม, "third gender"). The word kathoey is thought to be of Khmer origin.^[2] It is most often rendered as ladyboy in English conversation with Thais and this latter expression has become popular across South East Asia.

General description[link]

The term "kathoey" is not an equivalent of the modern Western transsexual woman. Use of the term "kathoey" suggests that the person self-identifies as a type of male, in contrast to sao praphet song (which like "trans woman" suggests a "female" gender identity) or phet thi sam (which suggests a third gender). The term phu-ying praphet thi sorng, which can be translated as "woman of the second kind", is also used to refer to kathoey.^[3] Australian scholar of sexual politics in Thailand Peter Jackson claims that the term "kathoey" was used in premodern times to refer to intersexuals, and that the usage changed in the middle of the twentieth century to cover cross-dressing males.^[4] The term can refer to males who exhibit varying degrees of femininity – many kathoeys dress as women and undergo "feminising" medical procedures such as breast implants, hormones, silicone injections, or Adam's apple reductions. Others may wear makeup and use feminine pronouns, but dress as men, and are closer to the Western category of effeminate gay man than transgender.

The term "kathoey" may be considered pejorative, especially in the form "kathoey-saloey". It has a meaning similar to the English language "fairy" or "queen".^[5]

Social context[link]

Kathoey work in predominately female occupations, such as in shops, restaurants and beauty salons, but also in factories (a reflection of Thailand's high proportion of female industrial workers).^[6] Kathoey also work in entertainment and tourist centers, in cabaret – Alcazar and Tiffanys in Pattaya are among the best known – and as sex workers.

Pattaya: Kathoeys on the stage of a cabaret show.

Kathoeys are more visible and more accepted in Thai culture than transgender or transsexual people are in Western countries or the Indian subcontinent. Several popular Thai models, singers and movie stars are kathoeys, and Thai newspapers often print photos of the winners of female and kathoey beauty contests side by side. The phenomenon is not restricted to urban areas; there are kathoeys in most villages, and kathoey beauty contests are commonly held as part of local fairs.

Using the notion of Karma, some Thai believe that being a kathoey is the result of transgressions in past lives, concluding that kathoey deserve pity rather than blame.^[7]

A common stereotype is that older well-off kathoey provide financial support to young men with whom they are in a personal relationship.^[8]

Kathoeys currently face many social and legal impediments. Families (and especially fathers) are typically disappointed if a son becomes a kathoey, and kathoeys often have to face the prospect of coming out. However, kathoey generally have greater acceptance in Thailand than most other Asian countries.^[9] Legal recognition of kathoeys and transsexuals is non-existent in Thailand: even if transsexuals have had genital reassignment surgery, they are not allowed to change their legal sex. Discrimination in employment remains rampant.^[10] Issues can also arise in regards to access to amenities and gender allocation; for example, a kathoey and a transsexual who has undergone sexual reassignment surgery would still have to stay in an all-male prison.

Recent developments[link]

Kathoey working in a go-go bar in Bangkok's Nana Plaza entertainment area

In 1993, Thailand's teacher training colleges had implemented a semi-formal ban on allowing homosexual (which included kathoey) students enrolling in courses leading to qualification for positions in kindergartens and primary schools. In January 1997, the Rajabhat Institutes (the governing body of the colleges) announced it would formalize the ban, which would extend to all campuses at the start of the 1997 academic year. The ban was quietly rescinded later in the year, following the replacement of the Minister of Education.^[11]

In 1996, a volleyball team composed mostly of gays and kathoeys, known as The Iron Ladies (Thai: สตรีเหล็ก, satree lek), later portrayed in two Thai movies, won the Thai national championship. The Thai government, concerned with the country's image, barred two of the kathoey from joining the national team and competing internationally.

Among the most famous kathoeys in Thailand is Nong Tum, a former champion Thai boxer who emerged into the public eye in 1998. She was already cross-dressing and taking hormones while still a popular boxer; she would enter the ring with long hair and makeup, occasionally kissing a defeated opponent. She announced her retirement from professional boxing in 1999 – undergoing genital reassignment surgery, while continuing to work as a coach, and taking up acting and modeling. She returned to boxing in 2006.

In 2004, the Chiang Mai Technology School allocated a separate restroom for kathoeys, with an intertwined male and female symbol on the door. The 15 kathoey students are required to wear male clothing at school but are allowed to sport feminine hairdos. The restroom features four stalls, but no urinals.^[12]

Following the 2006 Thai coup d'état, kathoeys are hoping for a new third sex to be added to passports and other official documents in a proposed new constitution.^[13] In 2007, legislative efforts have begun to allow kathoeys to change their legal sex if they have undergone genital reassignment surgery; this latter restriction was controversially discussed in the community.^[10]

Bell Nuntita a contestant of Thailand's Got Talent TV shows become a YouTube hit when she first performed singing as a girl, and the crowd become amazed when she switches to a masculine voice.^[14]

Culture[link]

Revues and music groups[link]

The first all kathoey music group in Thailand was formed in 2006. It is named Venus Flytrap and was selected and promoted by Sony BMG Music Entertainment.^[15]

The Lady Boys of Bangkok is a kathoey revue that has been performed in the UK since 1998 touring the country in both theatres and the famous "Sabai Pavillion" for 9 months each year.

Films[link]

Ladyboys is a 1992 documentary film made for Channel 4 TV and directed by Jeremy Marre. It relates the story of two teenage kathoey who prepare for and enter a rural beauty contest and then leave for Pattaya to find work in a cabaret revue.

The story of the 1996 Iron Ladies volleyball team underlies the humorous and successful 2000 movie The Iron Ladies and the 2003 sequel The Iron Ladies 2.

The 2002 Thai film Saving Private Tootsie tells the story of a group of gays and kathoey who need to be rescued after a plane crash in rebel-held jungle territory. The film explores anti-gay attitudes in various ways. It is loosely based on an incident in December 1998 when a group including a popular singer and his kathoey makeup artist survived a plane crash.

The life of the kathoey kick boxer Nong Tum is related in the 2003 movie Beautiful Boxer. Unlike The Iron Ladies 1 & 2, Beautiful Boxer used a serious tone.

In the 2005 Thai martial arts film The Warrior King the main villain is a kathoey, although references to this were edited out for the American release. She is played by Jin Xing who is herself transgendered.

The extreme traveller show Madventures had a section on kathoeys on the third season.

In the 2011 American film The Hangover Part II, Stu inadvertently has sex with a kathoey (played by Yasmin Lee) while on a drug-induced bender in Bangkok.

See also[link]

Transgender portal

• Hijra (South Asia)
• List of transgender-related topics
• Travesti
• Femminiello
• Gender Identities in Thailand

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kathoeys

• Andrew Matzner: In Legal Limbo: Thailand, Transgendered Men, and the Law, 1999. Criticizes the common view that kathoey are fully accepted by Thai society.
• Andrew Matzner: Roses of the North: The Katoey of Chiang Mai University, 1999. Reports on a kathoey "sorority" at Chiang Mai University.
• Transgender Asia including several articles on kathoey
• Where the 'Ladyboys' Are
• Thailand's "Women of the Second Kind"
• Can you tell the difference between Katoeys and real ladies?"
• E.G. Allyn: Trees in the Same Forest, 2002. Description of the gay and kathoey scene of Thailand.
• Chanon Intramart and Eric Allyn: Beautiful Boxer, 2003. Describes the story of Nong Tum.
• The Hermaphrodite World [1] is a film exploring the kathoey culture of Thailand
• Katoey Thai-Ladyboys

George Godley

George Albert Godley (31 October 1857 – 20 July 1941) was a police officer of the Metropolitan Police who was involved in the hunt for Jack the Ripper in 1888.^[1]

Born at East Grinstead in Sussex in 1857, Godley initially worked as a sawyer. He then joined the Metropolitan Police on 26 February 1877, and was assigned warrant number 61230.^[2] At the time of the Jack the Ripper murders in 1888 Godley was a Sergeant in London's J Division (Bethnal Green). He transferred to H Division (Whitechapel) where he assisted Inspector Frederick Abberline in the hunt for the killer. The Times of 12 November 1888 reported:

"Since the murders in Berner Street, St. Georges, and Mitre Square, Aldgate, on September 30th, Detective Inspectors Reid, Moore and Nairn, and Sergeants Thick, Godley, M'Carthy and Pearce have been constantly engaged, under the direction of Inspector Abberline (Scotland Yard), in prosecuting inquiries, but, unfortunately, up to the present time without any practical result. As an instance of the magnitude of their labours, each officer has had, on average, during the last six weeks to make some 30 separate inquiries weekly, and these have had to be made in different portions of the metropolis and suburbs. Since the two above-mentioned murders no fewer than 1,400 letters relating to the tragedies have been received by the police, and although the greater portion of these gratuitous communications were found to be of a trivial and even ridiculous character, still each one was thoroughly investigated. On Saturday (10th November) many more letters were received, and these are now being inquired into."^[3]

When Godley arrested poisoner George Chapman in 1903 the then retired Inspector Abberline allegedly said "You have caught Jack the Ripper at last" or similar words.^[1][4]

Godley retired on 20 January 1908 by which time he was an Inspector in K Division.^[2] He died in July 1941 aged 84.

His nephew was Sidney Frank Godley who won the Victoria Cross during World War I.

In fiction[link]

In the 1988 TV miniseries Jack the Ripper starring Michael Caine Godley was played by Lewis Collins^[5] and in the 2001 film From Hell starring Johnny Depp the character 'Peter Godley' played by Robbie Coltrane was based on George Godley.^[6]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Godley on the Casebook: Jack the Ripper website