Getting psychiatric review in Bangkok, Thailand, what should I expect?

[Miss Kitty]

Hey gurls,

In 6 weeks I am off to Thailand to the Kamol Cosmetic Hospital to have my bottom surgery done (with Dr Kamol, obviously lol) but they have asked me to get reviewed by 2 Thai psychiatrist as part of my consultation the day before the surgery is scheduled.

I have already received two referrals from clinical psychiatrists in my home country, Australia, and wouldn't have thought it necessary to explain my whole life story again but that's what they asked (they wanted me to see 4 thai psychiatrist without a referral from my home country which seems like extreme over kill).

I am confident I won't have any issues as every mental health professional I have dealt with has been convinced of my "trans-ness" but I have never dealt with any one over sea's and their expectations may be entirely different. So, to try and help with my anxiety I am wondering if any one here has had to go through the same or similar experience in Thailand and what should I expect?

I will have been living full time as my real self for over a year by the time I go (part time 4 years prior) and have no medical conditions (physically or mentally), is their any thing I should be stressing about?

Thanks heaps and any help is greatly appreciated.

[AnonyMs]

No need to make it difficult. Just tell them what they want to hear and they will get paid and you'll have your surgery.

[Mendi]

Hi

Don´t stress about it. Easier said than done, I know. I stressed those 2 meetings also very much, because my experiences from Finnish mental health professionals is poor, or even lower. And I was denied help here in Finland. So, I was very anxious of meeting two doctors from a professional group, that I absolutely despise.

But, it is so different from western world. In Thailand even the psychiatrists seem to really "understand" transgenderism and the meeting was more like a congratulation meeting from the two doctors, that now I can finally be me and happy.

Of course they asked about depression etc etc. But as those are things from the past it wasn´t no problem.

My advice though is to keep it simple. I mean storywise keep it simple and with vocabulary keep it simple. They are educated yes and they speak better English than most, but still I noticed few times, that I went too much into details or used English words which were not that common and that created confusion. Keep it simple and save yourself from headace.

But really, in total it took about 30 minutes including waiting time to meet both of the doctors.

Relax!

[AnonyMs]

I've seen some posts by Thai transwomen elsewhere about Thai psychs, and heard from a foreigner who's visited a place where locals go, and it's not at all like you'd think. I can't compare to Finland, but Thailand appears very backwards and full of gatekeeping.

The key difference here is that there's a lot of money tied up in this surgery and they are not going to stop you without a very good reason. As long as you can be rational for the duration of the appointment and tell them what they want to hear you'll be fine.

I've heard a lot of stories and I've never heard of anyone failing one of these. If you're capable of actually organisng everything and getting there you're capable of getting through the interview.

[Mendi]

Of course you cannot compare locals vs. foreigners coming 10k in their pantyhose to have surgery.

But let´s just say, that even with 100k I would have not gotten any help from Finland, a country which requires force sterilization of trans people, a country which has not apologize force sterilization of handicapped, alcholists, prostitutes and other people who were deemed unworthy of reproducing and which went on to the 70´s. All other Nordic countries have apologized this behaviour.

Finland, a country which requires detailed doctor statement to just have abortion. Thing, which is history in other Nordic countries.

Finland, a country where you do not have control over your own body.

In European standards, this is as backwater country as you will get.

[Miss Kitty]

I just want to say a big thanks so far, I am worried about getting denied treatment over little technicalities. I have heard so many horror stories from reading trans-literature, though most of the stories are from 30 or more years ago they still give me bad anxiety.

My whole family thinks (once again) that I am making a big deal over nothing, like you guys said, I am paying them a little more than a small fortune and they aren't going to want to lose money over some thing trivial. It means a lot getting reassurance from trans women who have real experience with this type of thing. Judging by the responses so far I need to start celebrating and stop chewing all my nails off

PS Mendi I'm disappointed and saddened to hear about your home country, I have dreamt about visiting all the nordic countries my whole life and thought those places were very liberal and forward thinking

[Mendi]

You will do just fine! Don´t worry! I mean I didn´t even have a statement from endocrinologist! I just had estrogen prescription written in Estonian 

The nurse accepted me explaining what the prescription said. Lol, I mean the paper could have said anything!

P.S. Visit the other countries, which are very liberal. Sweden for example is paying 20k for ever transgender person as an apology of bad behaviour and treatment from society towards transpeople!

[Tabitha.1]

Technically, as far as the relatively recent changes to Thailand law is concerned, you only need two letters from licensed psychiatrists. They can be from Thai doctors or foreign practitioners. I find it hard to believe they would not accept letters from licensed Australian doctors! Sometime seems very wrong here!

As AnonyMs has stated: "Thailand appears very backwards and full of gatekeeping." Yes, the issue of gatekeepers in Thailand and even on this website is well known among the more experienced and knowledgeable in the greater transgender community. There is this phenomenon known as "You Are Not >-bleeped-< Enough" here that spills over to real world situations in especially Thailand.

This works very well with Thai neo-futile society that can be very patronizing to those that are viewed as inferior or marginalized by social, and unfortunately ladyboys and transsexuals are in this category. Further, authority or the appearance of authority, whether legitimate or not, is never questioned here in Thailand.

This is especially true , if that authority is from someone you are associated with and prosper from! This authority will frequently use informal communications channels in their decision making process, so what may have trump those two very legitimate letters from your Australian psychiatrists, is other information gathered informally and quietly!

As far as I have been told, Kamol Cosmetic Hospital, has its own staff psychiatrist.

[MaryT]

...
As far as I have been told, Kamol Cosmetic Hospital, has its own staff psychiatrist.

Of course I'm not suggesting anything untoward on the part of the Kamol Hospital but the effect, if not the intention, of insisting on reviews by Thai psychiatrists is that it is likely to increase the Hospital's income.

[AnonyMs]

This is the Thai law regarding psych approval

http://thailawforum.com/Guidelines-sex-change-operations.html

And the bit relevant to foreigners

In the event the ailing person is a foreigner and has received approval from a foreign psychiatrist already, at least one Thai psychiatrist must assess and evaluate the person prior to the operation.