Thai Buddhist Ex-Trans Ministry
Saturday, July 16, 2011
http://www.cristanwilliams.com/b/2011/07/16/thai-buddhist-ex-trans-ministry/ (http://www.cristanwilliams.com/b/2011/07/16/thai-buddhist-ex-trans-ministry/)
I recently discovered that there is an ex-trans temple in Thailand that is trying to chant, meditate and bully the trans out of trans people. Wat Kreung Tai has a special program for male-bodied trans people between the ages of 11 and 18.
The "Kreung" in Wat (Wat = monastery in Thai) Kreung Tai has a certain connotation that's is significant in their reparative detransing effort. Kreung is a term that is generally used to refer to people of mixed racial background and specifically Thais of Western Caucasian and Thai ancestry. The term is sometimes used as a slur and those who are kreung have a history of enduring discrimination due to a lack of what is thought to be racial purity.
[...]
Pitsanu Witcharato, the camp's overseer, set up the reparative operation in 2008 when he became offended by the number of kathoey who were becoming novice monks.
Pipop is the best. She won't even pretend this is going to be effective or healthy. That's pride in a nutshell.
One thing I never understood about Thailand, though. We hear all the time about how Thailand is supposedly light years ahead of the West, but where are all the trans men?