At last — a notable success: Ladyboys raise large sums for charities

Ladyboy Water Volleyball Teams

Finally, some good news! At last, something positive to write about!

After several weeks, if not months, of gloomy reports about Ladyboys and their alleged or proven misdemeanours in Thailand, it was a welcome change to hear about an event which not only helped create a more positive image about the Ladyboys of Pattaya, but also helped raise a substantial amount of money for local and provincial charitable causes.

Interesting enough this was an event initiated by a British expat, Tony Sales, who has made Pattaya his adopted home. Clearly perturbed at all the negativity that Ladyboys seem to generate, and being pragmatic enough to appreciate that the troublemakers are, in reality, only a relatively small minority of Ladyboys, Tony decided to do something to try and redress the situation. He explained, “…one thing I’ve noticed generally is that Transgendered people often face prejudices brought on by stereotyping and, more recently, the misdeeds of a small minority.”

Sadly, he is spot on — and this is something which continues to work against T-people — and not only in Thailand.

Still, shying away from organising the usual type of Transgender beauty pageant, Tony decided to organise a sporting tournament for Ladyboys only — and an event of a sport close to the heart of Thai people given the recent successes of their national ladies team — a volleyball tournament (albeit this one with a further added difference of it being a water based volleyball tournament).

Originally started in 2012 by Tony, this year’s event attracted 8 teams of around 40 Ladyboys from Pattaya and other provinces, over 200 spectators, and had several noticeable differences from the one held in 2012 — namely that, firstly, it attracted mainstream sponsors such as Tiffany’s Cabaret & Entertainment Group — the first and most famous Ladyboy cabaret show in Thailand which has its HQ in Pattaya, and also an internationally known global oil and gas exploration survey company; secondly, it raised over Baht 1M (or about US$32,000) in money for charitable causes, almost four times as much as in 2012.

“This amount far exceeded expectations,” said Tony, “and it was ensured that all of this money went to worthy causes championed by four charities, such as local Orphanages and the acquisition of water filtration pumps for several rural villages.”

More importantly, perhaps, from a T perspective, given the slew of negative news which has been emanating throughout the media about the behaviour of Ladyboys, the relatively widespread coverage this positive event attracted, both locally and internationally (even a UK newspaper picked up the story), at least goes some of the way to trying to redress the image of T-people in this part of the world and shows that, treated fairly and without prejudice, Ladyboys can contribute to the community and can show themselves in a positive light.

Hopefully, next year’s tournament will be even bigger and better and my sincere hope is that this inspires or helps encourage someone from within the local Thai community, maybe even from within the government or a local authority to see what can be done with a little help from mainstream society and work on promulgating better education about Transgender issues for both sides of the issue — Ladyboys and the public in general.

[Show as slideshow]

As I always say, breaking down the prejudices and discrimination that exist against any minority can only be achieved by education — no matter what the issue at stake is.

My only other question is: Is anyone out there who is in authority or a position to make change for the better for T-people in Thailand listening?

Available from Club Lighthouse Publishing

Tags: featured, katoi, Ladyboy, news, Thailand, Transgender

Category: Transgender Body & Soul