I'm a ladyboy

I'M A LADYBOY

(Thailand 2014)

This is just the beginning of a project about Ladyboys and their lives.

Thailand is the country in the world with the highest number of transsexuals (about 100 thousand), and definitely the most tolerant. Thanks to the culture of tolerance and the Buddhist religion, here the story of their lives is different from the rest of our planet, since they discover that the choice of ending up in that body, whoever made it, is wrong.

The decision to change sex here is not seen as a fault, as a disgrace, as a disease, but as a natural process that is dealt with as soon as possible. All this to allow the change of their body in the best way and do not have physical and psychological trauma.

When they discover that they are gay, normally during the adolescence, they decide, often supported by their families, to start taking female hormones, to begin the transformation of their body that lead them to become a woman. This is why the ladyboys look perfectly like woman. Although often the massive assumption of estrogen causes different kind of diseases through time, until premature death.

The ladyboys are freelancers and their choice to work as sex workers is a free choice, and nowadays is often not driven by poverty, but by the desire to make money, get rich and have a good life. In fact, the business is very good, compared in Thailand with an average salary of 250 euro per month, the ladyboys can earn up to 2,000 Euros per month, or as in the case of the most quoted and requested ladyboys even astronomical sums.

Despite the huge competition, only here at Nana there are more than 500 ladyboys, the trade is thriving thanks to hundreds of thousands of foreign tourists coming each year from all the world and invading the premises of this complex.

Mostly of Ladyboys work as sex workers to collect the money for surgery to change definitively their sex. The surgery that will transform their genitalia from male to female is costly, from 100 to 200 thousand baht (from 2000 to 4000 euro) a very high sum here in Thailand.

That’s why ladyboys are working here in Nana. In order to become what nature did not give them: a woman.

Ladyboy while praying and giving an offer to Buddha in a small altar within the complex of Nana before starting work

Nana plaza. Nana complex. Nana complex is considered the largest "sex Mall" in the world with more than 500 ladyboys and 3,000 girls working inside.

The beauty salon inside the Nana complex. Mostly of the girls and ladyboys working in Nana Complex as sex workers before starting work come here to do hair and face make up.

Pat 20 years old, she started to take hormones at 15 years old, she has been working for four months to Nana and has collected 50,000 baht for the surgery. Hher parents agreed with her.

Bar Beer 24 years old, on the left when she was 13 years old before the hormonal treatment, on the center, 19 years old after the hormones, on the right, after plastic surgery. She did the breasts, cheeks and lips.

Samie, 20 years old, she is working here in Nana for 4 months, she started taking hormones at the age of 19, with the support of her family.

Manow 25 years old, she started taking hormones ten years ago and began working in Nana two months ago. Here she is preparing makeup before work

Mamasan Sara is the owner and manager of the Casanova Bar, she started late to take hormones because she belongs to the previous generation, so she did plastic surgery, but she never did Genitalia plastic surgery

Ladyboys dancing inside the Casanova bar

ladyboys resting and chatting. Mostly of them have Thai boyfriends, and during the breaks chat with them.