UPDATE: Thailand: Transgender diva seeks political office

[Shana A]

Thailand: Transgender diva seeks political office

Election could install the highest-ranking transgender candidate in Thai history.
Patrick WinnMay 26, 2012 07:44

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/thailand/120525/transgender-candidate-yollada-nok-suanyot-politics-elections

BANGKOK, Thailand — Consider Yollada "Nok" Suanyot among the more unique challenges for campaign strategists. After all, the public is seldom presented with a male-born political candidate who was famously arrested as a teen for using a fake ID to enter — and win — women's beauty pageants.

Via May 27 provincial elections, Yollada could become the highest-ranking transgender politician in Thailand's history. If victorious, a potential but unlikely scenario, she will have taken a most unusual route to political office: rebellious teenage pageant queen to pop singer to rights advocate and entrepreneur.

[...]

Are you satisfied with transgender rights under Thai law?

Good laws protecting transexuals have yet to come. We're still on the fringe. Look at me. My role in society is that of a woman. But the law recognizes me as a man. That doesn't make much sense, does it? Perhaps we now have greater acceptance in society. But not when it comes to legal rights.

[Shana A]

Transgender woman wins provincial election for the first time
May 28, 2012 4:00 pm

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/Transgender-woman-wins-provincial-election-for-the-30182970.html

A transgender who ran for a local political position in Nan province on Monday became the first transgender to win a seat.

Yonlada or Nok, whose real name is Kirkkong Suanyos, received 3,808 votes while her rival candidate; Pawat Settayawong got 3,659 votes.

Yonlada's decision to run for the position made the news, as she is the first transgender to ever seek to enter political field. She is the president of Trans Female Association of Thailand and a PhD candidate who runs a satellite TV station and has her own jewellery business.