Ladyboy Gangs Rounded up in Pattaya
Pattaya used to be a nice seaside town… some 35-40 years ago.
At that time, around a 2.5-3.0 hour drive from Bangkok, it was popular weekend getaway for Bangkok residents, both local and foreigners alike. There were some tourists from overseas but it was all fairly low key — probably a little like some of the remoter Thai islands still are these days.
Yet the advent of nearby Jomtien being used for R&R for the US military engaged in Vietnam was just one of the catalysts which helped change Pattaya forever.
So . . . well gone into the distant past is the sleepy, welcoming beach resort — and in its place is a sprawling, huge city just 1.5 hours from the new Suvarnabhumi Airport on the east side of Bangkok: a city that showcases all that is wrong with sun, sand and sex tourism; a city where anything, and I do mean ANYTHING, goes.
You name it, Pattaya has got it: sex and drugs and rock and roll (and that’s the tamer side); a variety of adhoc, petty crime plus organised crime courtesy of local and foreign gangs; extensive sex tourism; scams galore; even more sex; and a populace most of whom seem to exist simply to gouge as much money as they can from the tourist or foreign visitor.
Pimps and prostitutes; drug dealers and con-men/women; career criminals and opportunists; foreign funded, shady real estate projects and real estate “agents”….. the list of dubious activities is so endless I almost feel tired writing it!
Oh…, and, of course, we have lots and lots of Ladyboys.
For thousands upon thousands of women and men from other, poorer provinces within Thailand, the allure of a big city such as Pattaya and the opportunities to score big, in relative terms, is very hard to resist. So, naturally, Ladyboys from the provinces looking for work, looking for that big break or just hoping to earn enough money to get a stab at a decent life, or maybe to buy hormones or get that all important breast implant or other necessary surgery, flock to the city.
In fact, on a yearly basis, dozens of Ladyboys “catch” a foreigner in Pattaya and find their living local standards immediately elevated, or even sometimes find themselves suddenly living overseas in Germany, Sweden or UK with their new foreign “husband.” After all, why can’t Ladyboys have their shot at bettering themselves; everyone else does?
Well, sadly, two things often happen. Sometimes, many Ladyboys get sucked so far into the seemingly never ending cycle of prostitution, drugs and petty crime that it becomes impossible to break free — until it’s too late and the toll on the body and mind overwhelms them.
Secondly, Ladyboys, by virtue of being a very visible minority are easy targets for Police or other law enforcement officers who now and then feel (or have orders to) they have to “clean-up” Pattaya — an impossible task if I’ve ever seen one. In fact, “hell freezing over” comes to mind!
Admittedly, many Ladyboys don’t help themselves, especially when they group into gangs and go on stealing sprees or solicit, drug and steal from tourists/customers; but it’s not as if they are the only culprits in Thailand’s Sin City!
You wouldn’t know this, of course, if you believe the following few lines from a recent article in one of the local journals:
A team of police officers and volunteer police recently led a crack down on Ladyboy gangs who prostitute themselves around Walking Street, South Pattaya and Pattaya beach.
The police are to clamp down on crime and drugs in Pattaya especially the Ladyboy gangs that are always prostituting and stealing from foreigners. This behaviour had destroyed the good image of Pattaya (sic!) and, therefore, the police officers had to crack down on them.
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Probably cry, I think. If only we had a proper welfare “safety net” for TG people, a proper government-led programme to help T’s with their gender issues, then maybe a lot of the negativity and problems associated with Ladyboys in Pattaya would dissipate.
“Hell” and “freezing” come to mind for the second time in less than 10 minutes, I am afraid.
Category: Transgender Community News
About the Author (Author Profile)
Christine has written numerous (at least 150) articles, columns, op-eds, features & stories for well known T magazines, websites & e-zines; she also works as a part time fiction editor for Club Lighthouse Publishing, and is a co-editor of an award winning T-girl Magazine. In addition, she has written 8 adult books mainly in the T sub-genre which have been published by Club Lighthouse Publishing, for whom she has been the best selling author for the last 5 years.Subscribe
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to receive more just like it.
