Hello from Thailand

[anny]

Hi, I am very excited to have found this website. So many great resources, it's hard to know where to begin.

I am a 24 year old ladyboy (the word used for transgender males in Thailand) living in Chonburi province. I have known since childhood that I was born in the wrong body, and I am still struggling to achieve my goal of getting my sex change operation. It's not easy to raise the kind of money needed, but I am certain that I will succeed. This website is bound to be a huge help in achieving my goal. Reading about the experiences of so many others in the same situation is a great inspiration for me.

[V M]

Hi Anny 

Welcome to Susan's    Glad to have you here, join on in the fun

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Hugs

V M

[Mark3]

Hi Anny.

Big welcome and greetings.
I'm so glad you've joined us.
Lots of great friends and resources here.
Take care,
Mark

[anny]

• Site Terms of Service and rules to live by
  
• Standard Terms and Definitions
  
• Post Ranks ( including when you can upload an avatar)
  
• Age and the Forum
  
• Reputation rules
  
• Photo, avatars, and signature images policy
  

Thanks a lot for that very useful list of resources. Will be sure to review them. Already looking forward to uploading a few pictures, once I have been here a little longer :-)

[Julia-Madrid]

Hi Anny

So nice to have you join us!

I am curious - Thailand seem to be a country with a much higher proportion of visible transgender people than other countries.  It both interests me that this is the case, and also that there is such a strongly developed transgender culture in your country.  It would be really interesting to understand your views of these two things, as well as how you feel about the way people in Thailand treat the transgender community in general.

Hugs
Julia

[anny]

I am curious - Thailand seem to be a country with a much higher proportion of visible transgender people than other countries.  It both interests me that this is the case, and also that there is such a strongly developed transgender culture in your country.  It would be really interesting to understand your views of these two things, as well as how you feel about the way people in Thailand treat the transgender community in general.

You are very right. It's quite common to be openly transgender in Thailand, and we are accepted everywhere we go. I guess to some extend it's rooted in Buddhist philosophy, that we are not quick to judge people based on their sexuality. However, not all Buddhist countries are the same, so I guess it's also something unique about the Thai culture. Exactly what it is I am not sure though.

What is certain is that transgender people have it a lot easier in Thailand than most places in the world. Not that many of us don't struggle, but it has very little to do with our sexuality. When I read about some of the trouble that others face in Europe and the US, I am very thankful to have been born in Thailand. I had a tough time growing up, and I even struggle as an adult, but at least nobody is judging me based on my sexuality.

[Julia-Madrid]

Hi Anny

You are very lucky!  Thanks for that update.

Julia

[anny]

You are very lucky!  Thanks for that update.

Lucky in that regard, but I have plenty of issues in my life in other areas. One of these days I will share my full story with all of you. Hope you will still like me after that ;-)

[mrs izzy]

Welcome anny to Susan's family.

Hugs

[Donna Elvira]

Welcome aboard Anny.
I'm recently back from a month in Thailand where I did my GRS and have to say I loved it, really appreciating the natural warmth and kindness of the all the people I interacted with, including, by the way, a TG masseuse. That was quite a funny story but not one I'm going to write about here. 
Like Julia I'll be very interested in knowing more about what it is like living as a trans woman Thailand and am already very impressed by how well you write in English.
Warm regards.
Donna

[Julia-Madrid]

Lucky in that regard, but I have plenty of issues in my life in other areas. One of these days I will share my full story with all of you. Hope you will still like me after that ;-)

I'm sure we will still like you!  This is a very accepting community - and many, almost all of us, have had complicated lives with plenty of issues.  But we try to share our issues here and hope to understand ourselves better as a result

[crowcrow223]

Hi Anny
it's good to see you here. I'm also very impressed with your english, good for you!
I am quite surprised you have titled yourself as "ladyboy" as I thought this term was quite derogatory, but I guess it's not or you don't see it as such

I started wondering, since I visited Thailand earlier this year, about tomboy/lesbian or ftm people in Thailand, as they were far, far more visible to me rather than what one may see as feminity amongst males.

I don't think I've seen many transgender women, obviously I might have missed them, but I seemed to have seen more butch women, that were clearly choosing to present themselves in a more masculine manner. Short hair, boyish/men's clothing choices, lack of feminity etc.

It's obviously their choice, but no one ever mentions this type of women in Thailand and I seemed to notice lots of them. Is the butch women community in Thailand fairly noticeable or did I just happen to run into them quite a lot lol? :p

Cheers for answering

[anny]

I'm recently back from a month in Thailand where I did my GRS and have to say I loved it, really appreciating the natural warmth and kindness of the all the people I interacted with, including, by the way, a TG masseuse. That was quite a funny story but not one I'm going to write about here. 
Like Julia I'll be very interested in knowing more about what it is like living as a trans woman Thailand and am already very impressed by how well you write in English.

Very happy to hear that you enjoyed Thailand. Warms my heart to hear :-)
I hope to soon get my GRS, but not easy to save up all that money. It's a very expensive operation for most Thai people — myself included.

I cannot add much more about life as a transgender woman in Thailand at this point, but I will share more of my story later, and hopefully that will satisfy your curiosity :-)

As for my English skills, I have to admit that I am getting a lot of help from my boyfriend. English can be difficult for us Thai people, because our language is constructed entirely different from English. For instance, we don't have the concept of past or future tense. Context determines if we are talking about something that happened yesterday, or something we expect will happen tomorrow.

[anny]

I am quite surprised you have titled yourself as "ladyboy" as I thought this term was quite derogatory, but I guess it's not or you don't see it as such

I started wondering, since I visited Thailand earlier this year, about tomboy/lesbian or ftm people in Thailand, as they were far, far more visible to me rather than what one may see as feminity amongst males.

I don't think I've seen many transgender women, obviously I might have missed them, but I seemed to have seen more butch women, that were clearly choosing to present themselves in a more masculine manner. Short hair, boyish/men's clothing choices, lack of feminity etc.

It's obviously their choice, but no one ever mentions this type of women in Thailand and I seemed to notice lots of them. Is the butch women community in Thailand fairly noticeable or did I just happen to run into them quite a lot lol? :p

No, I don't consider the term ladyboy to be derogatory. The term is quite commonly used, and it doesn't usually imply anything negative.

FTM people are usually referred to as tomboys in Thailand. They are quite common, but I do think there are more ladyboys than tomboys. Not that I have counted ;-)
I don't think Thailand has a bigger transgender community than any other country, but being transgender is generally just very accepted, so people are not so afraid to display it in public.

[Devlyn]

Hi Anny, it's a pleasure to meet you! I live near Boston and have virtually no grab on the English language! See you around the site!

Hugs, Devlyn

[Ms. OBrien CVT]

Hi Anny,

Welcome to our little family. Over 14007 members. That would be one heck of a family reunion.

Feel free to post your successes/failures, Hopes/dreams.  Ask questions and seek answers. Give and receive advice.

But remember we are family here, your family now. And it is always nice to have another sister.


Janet  )O(