Nowadays, affirmative action movements are very popular all over the world, and people not only pursue equality between men and women, but also care about the rights and interests of minorities.
For example, transgender, intersex or transgender people are one of the most concerned groups, and people are now more and more concerned about and protect the rights and interests of such groups, but in fact, even in Thailand, one of the countries that are most tolerant of transgender groups, intersex people's lives are not as good as we think.
Transgender people in Thailand – who in the past we used to refer to as shemales or intersex people – have always been "red people" in the eyes of tourists. Many tourists travel to Thailand precisely for the Thai "shemale show", to see the beauty of the style, and feel their "open" style.
But behind the glamour, in fact, the real life of Thai intersex people is not so beautiful, and many people actually live a miserable life.
Why are there so many intersex people in Thailand?
In most people's minds, Thailand is a country that is very open to transgender people, because the country has a large number of "shemale" groups and the locals do not seem to discriminate against them.
The so-called "shemale" is a popular name in Hong Kong and Taiwan, in fact, it seems to have a certain "discrimination", with the rise of affirmative action, people seem to be more inclined to call them intersex or transgender, or people will say that their gender is "third gender".
Some people will think that Thailand is obviously a Buddhist country, but why are there so many transgender people in Thailand? It is difficult to generalize on this issue, but there are generally three ways to say it.
First of all, some sources point out that in fact, in the past few hundred years, Southeast Asia has had the phenomenon of transgender people engaging in performing arts, not only in Thailand, but also in Malaysia, Indonesia and other countries, and this kind of performance may be traced back to the traditional culture of "transgender priests" of indigenous civilizations in Southeast Asia.
According to the indigenous worldview of the time, the world consisted of various "opposite" elements that appeared in pairs, such as heaven and earth, and male and female.
When it comes to humans, hermaphrodites, or intersex people, become a kind of "opposite" existence, when people not only did not discriminate against intersex people, but also believed that they had mysterious powers. Intersex people here not only refer to people who are born with both sets of reproductive organs for men and women, but also include intersex people who are "transgender" the day after tomorrow.
Because people believe that intersex people have special powers, they often preside over sacrifices and become so-called priests.
As early as 1727, the British recorded the situation of the "transgender priests" in Burma, saying that they communicated with the "god of the earth" through crazy dance steps to understand the harvest of the crops.
Thailand was also influenced by this civilization and produced similar transgender priests, but the evolution to the present, the "crazy dance steps" danced by transgender priests have developed into simple song and dance performances, and in the Siamese period of Thai history, the royal family has also funded transgender song and dance troupes.
It may be for this reason that there are so many transgender performances in Thailand.
Second, there is a more mainstream narrative that Thai transgender people evolved from Indian "eunuchs".
At the beginning of the 16th century, the Mughal state formed a culture of "eunuchs" serving the female dependents of the family, the so-called eunuchs, at first referred to the congenital intersex people, such people will not cause "harm" to the female relatives of the dignitaries and nobles, and because of the good income, they are generally loyal to the master's family and have the trust of the master.
Therefore, this custom of serving female dependents by eunuchs was welcomed by high-ranking officials and nobles, and eunuchs were once "in short supply". However, congenital intersex people are only a minority after all, and there are many men with difficulties in life who will injure their lower bodies through more primitive means in order to earn money, so that they can become "eunuchs".
Later, however, due to the rapid increase in the number of "eunuchs" in the day after tomorrow, which greatly exceeded the demand, some eunuchs who could not take care of female dependents could only engage in song and dance performances to make a living, and the "circle of eunuchs" gradually formed.
As eunuchs moved to Thailand in Southeast Asia, Thailand also gradually embraced this culture and formed its own "shemale performance culture".
Finally, it was pointed out that this is not unrelated to the historical and cultural factors of Thailand itself. Because Thailand's sexual culture is long, women engaged in pornography services will not be too much blame. Moreover, Thailand is a Hinayana Buddhist country, and there is nothing wrong with giving away money earned from pornography services to Buddhism.
Since the income from performing arts in pornography services or transgender people is not bad, some poor men will also want to make money by "becoming women", and Thailand is tolerant of this.
Under such circumstances, Thailand's transgender culture is naturally very prosperous.
Thailand's "Shemale" with "Unlimited Scenery"
In the eyes of many people, Thailand's "shemales" may be infinitely beautiful, they are beautiful, good-looking, and their style is very open and popular.
Thailand's tourism industry is very developed, its tourism income is the second pillar of its national economy, and in the tourism industry, "shemale performance" is also an important feature and business card of Thailand.
In today's Thailand, "shemale demons" mainly refer to men who have taken estrogen since childhood and developed femininity, known locally as "red entertainers", and now, people may refer to them more as transgender.
Incomplete statistics show that the number of intersex people in Thailand is as high as 600,000, and they are not discriminated against in Thailand, but most people look at them with an "artistic" eye, and tourists will also go to Thailand to watch intersex performances.
Thailand has a beauty pageant for intersex people, and the participants are all those who are very good in body and good looks, and once they win the championship, their fate may change from then on.
In fact, many intersex people have become famous overnight through beauty contests, and have been given the opportunity to transform into films, TV series, or participate in variety shows, and some people can become singers with beautiful songs.
In Thailand, whether it is male, female or intersex, the life after becoming a star is similar, because many intersex people are actually because of poverty to be a "shemale", so if you can become a star, of course, even if you live up to the suffering of so many years.
However, it is not so easy to win the beauty pageant, after all, intersex people are also a large number of people, and they also need to gain favor through their own unique charm like others to stand out from the crowd.
And those intersex people who did not win the beauty pageant, although they may not be able to become famous overnight, also have the opportunity to join the senior intersex song and dance troupes in Bangkok and Pattaya.
The performance standards in the song and dance troupe are very high, and at the peak of the period, it can be said that it is full of seats and tickets are difficult to find, and the intersex people participating in the performance are naturally also earning a considerable income.
For example, on the famous Siam Princess in Thailand, there are many intersex people selected by beauty contests, they are more good-looking than the average intersex person, their body and appearance are more like women, if they do not listen to the voice, they are basically a complete woman, and they are better looking and more feminine than the average woman.
These relatively good intersex actors can earn about 70,000-100,000 yuan per month, which is already quite good, and can also maintain their relatively good life.
Of course, intersex people in Thailand are not all engaged in performance work, in fact, due to the new crown epidemic in the past two years, Thailand's tourism industry has been hit hard, the income of "shemale performances" has also been greatly reduced, and people of both sexes have begun to look for other jobs.
Some intersex people will go to the crew to run dragon sets, because Thailand's film and television drama industry is also relatively developed, and there are more dragon set actors needed. In addition, there are some intersex people who will go to get a certificate, as a makeup artist, model, the demand in Thailand these two industries is still relatively large, they can get more job opportunities.
According to media reports, there are also intersex people who go to be flight attendants, Thailand P.C. Air has hired a number of intersex people as "flight attendants", and after training, they officially take up their posts to serve passengers.
Finally, there are also intersex people who go to specialized "shemale" training institutions as teachers, passing on their "work experience" to young people.
In this way, it seems that the life of intersex people in Thailand is indeed similar to that of ordinary people, and those who come out through beauty pageants may live a more beautiful life than ordinary people. But in fact, the scenery is only a moment, and more of the "miserable life" of intersex people is covered by the scenery.
Real life: not as good as imagined
Just as the best in every industry are beautiful, so are the intersex people in Thailand. Many people only see their scenery, but they always selectively ignore their suffering.
Objectively speaking, although there are many intersex people in Thailand who are out of their own will, that is, some men may start to try to become a woman by thinking from the bottom of their hearts that they should be a woman, there are also many people who are "involuntary".
In Thailand, the so-called acquired "shemales" are also divided into three types, one is simply to think that they are women, or like to dress up as women, they have not undergone any surgery, just dress up feminine, in the country will also be called "pseudo-brides".
The second is that they have undergone breast augmentation surgery, but the lower body has not undergone sex reassignment surgery, and such people exist in large numbers in Thailand; The third is that after thorough sex reassignment surgery, male sexual characteristics are removed and women are completely changed.
In fact, many intersex people in Thailand belong to the second category, because the cost of thorough sex reassignment surgery is very high, and ordinary people cannot afford it.
Moreover, these intersex people also have to take estrogen for a long time to maintain the "feminine" characteristics of their bodies, plus the money required to dress up, in fact, the cost of intersex people is not small.
So, do they really have enough money to support this expense? It's certainly not a problem for particularly beautiful and charismatic intersex people, but the problem is that not all intersex people can make a lot of money.
In fact, there are many intersex people because of the forced life, want to make more money, will move the mind to become a "shemale", their appearance, talent is not outstanding, have not undergone complete sex reassignment surgery, may not look so much like women, even if the acting performance is not very popular.
According to one source, although the income of the "shemale queen" can be as high as tens of thousands of yuan, the income of ordinary intersex entertainers may only be one or two thousand yuan per month, and the income difference between the two is very large, so they can only earn more tips through "bold" style.
For example, tourists must know that taking photos with "shemales" in Thailand is a tip, and most "shemales" will also offer to "touch their chests" to attract tourists, and most intersex people also make money through acts similar to "selling" their bodies.
Many people have heard the saying that the "shemale" has a short lifespan, only about 40 years old, which has aroused the sympathy of many people for intersex people.
However, in fact, this statement does not seem so reliable, because estrogen is not so harmful to people, and with the advancement of medical technology, intersex people actually live almost the same as ordinary people.
However, intersex performances, like most performing arts industries, are "youth rice", once the performers are old, the income will also drop sharply, and there will be "a generation of new people to replace the old", and those elderly intersex people will naturally gradually leave people's sight.
After a sharp drop in income, the standard of living of intersex people will also drop significantly, and if there is a habit of saving, it may be possible to open a small shop or do other jobs to make a living, but if you are used to the "paper drunk fan" and do not think about the future, the life of intersex people will be even more miserable.
For example, there are some intersex people who can only turn to the pornography industry after they cannot perform, and everyone knows that this industry always seems to be "bound" with negative information such as drugs and violence, so many intersex people engaged in the pornography industry are actually not as good as people think, basically just able to make a living.
Moreover, they also have no fertility, generally do not have their own offspring, and may not feel that when they are young, they will always look a little lonely in their old age, in stark contrast to the previous scenery.
In their later years, their lives are not guaranteed, and many intersex people will eventually choose to enter the temple and spend this life in the sound of the Buddha.
The most important point is that although Thailand is relatively tolerant of intersex people and has set up various "third gender" facilities and equipment, in fact, discrimination will still exist.
After all, in Thailand, there are not only "shemale demons" who think they are intersex, but also those who are born intersex and who are more vulnerable to discrimination during their adolescence.
According to the data, there are some natural intersex people in Thailand who are subjected to various forms of discrimination in school, the most basic problem is that students do not let them enter the men's bathroom, nor let them enter the women's bathroom, but also ridicule and isolate them, many people suffer from depression, do not want to go to school, do not want to contact people, which has a great impact on their lives.
In general, there are bright and beautiful people in every group, but not everyone can enjoy this brilliance, for us, we still have to have a more understanding of the intersex group, no matter what reason they are based on becoming intersex, they choose this path, it is doomed to their future path will be more difficult, but also more need us to treat them with an equal attitude.