Return of the katoeys (ladyboys)?

There was a time, about 5 years ago when the majority of the bars employed some transvestites and/or some sex reassigned persons. For the old hands, things usually are pretty obvious, and they had some fun, observing the tourists and newcomers becoming prey to the ladyboys. Casanova at Nana Plaza (located second floor left far corner) has been around probably since about the start of business at Nana. A few years back we got some 'specialty' bars at Nana Plaza, actually quite a few of them. On the ground floor we have Obsession, on the second floor the already mentioned Casanova bar, and Temptations (next to Rainbow 4). On the top floor we have Cascade. In these bars altogether you will find probably more than a hundred ladyboys.

So the ladyboys disappeared from the regular bars. Since this happened in a relatively short time period, we suspect there was some agreement between most bars to do so. The disappearance of the katoeys overall was a good idea. Mostly they were thriving on deception. It is all good and well when the customers are looking for transvestite action. But a lot of unsuspecting touists fell prey, and got a good surprise when taking out one of the ladyboys. The fact that their activities where based on deception, of course caused a lot of hard feelings for the victims.

But now the ladyboys are making a comeback to the regular bars. It must be said that nowadays their overall number has increased a lot, and there are tens of them hanging around now at the entrance of Nana Plaza, around lower Sukhumvit at night, and close to the entrance(s) of Soi Cowboy. But we saw some actually dancing again in some of the bars.
G-spot (Nana Plaza) has at least a couple of them. Long Gun (Soi Cowboy) had a katoey dancing naked on stage the other day (postoperative of course). And at Suzie Wong (Soi Cowboy) a katoey (a very well done one) was actually participating in the 'lesbian' show.

We probably said so before, but it is worth repeating. When you notice a ladyboy, do not go around pointing fingers, and start discussing things with your friends in obvious fashion. Don't start staring at them checking them out in a non-sexual, but investigative way. Some of them get easily upset when discovered and certainly when you pass on the information to other customers around you. You may find out that they look like females to a large extent, but when you upset them, it may become obvious sometimes that they are genetically male.

Bangkok is probably the capital of sex reassignment surgery. There are at least about 15 establishments, hospitals and clinics that specialize in this surgery. The standards of selection must be very low, although most of them claim to include a psychologic evaluation before considering surgery. That the selection is poor, is obvious when observing the number of ladyboys that turn up in the sex trade. It is like a fair amount of people who go for transgender surgery, do so with the intent of then turning tricks around Nana Plaza and Soi Cowboy. We can not really consider this activity as 'normal'.

(more about lady boys)

More Articles :

• Which bars to go to in 2008?
• The Rise of Soi Cowboy
• Thugs and the Entrance to the Bars
• What about the Show Girls at Nana Plaza and Soi Cowboy
• Where to see the Shows?
• A review of the competition : Other Websites covering the Nightlife in Bangkok
• Common Rip Offs and Minor Dangers
• Happy Hours at Soi Cowboy
• About Lady Boys (Katoeys)
• More : The Return of the Lady Boys (Katoeys)
• Sukhumvit : Museum of Horrors
• Sukhumvit : Street Prostitution
• Cost of living in Thailand
• Is there a need for Nudity (and where can you see the girls?)
• Expensive Drinks at Nana Plaza and Soi Cowboy
• About getting some Water, and about the Noise Levels in the Bars
• The Invasion of the Arabs and Indians along Sukhumvit Road
• Our preferred Bars at Nana Plaza and Soi Cowboy
• The Japanese and the Bars
• Rapid and slow Turnover Bars - What is that?
• Stephen Leather : The Private Dancer, the ultimate Novel about the Bar Scene
• Escort Services in Bangkok and Thailand
• List of Escort Services (websites)

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