Boys Will Be Girls in International Beauty Contest

BANGKOK: -- The Miss International Queen contestants looked more feminine than many women could ever dream of, even though they were all born boys.

The 24 cross-dressers and medically altered transsexuals caked on makeup, sprayed their hair into hurricane-proof bouffants, and donned glamorous gowns and skimpy bikinis for the international beauty pageant.

Transgenderism is common and widely accepted in mostly Buddhist Thailand, particularly in Bangkok and towns like Pattaya. A two-hour drive south of Bangkok, the beach resort is known for its anything-goes sexuality, prostitution and transvestite cabaret theatres like Tiffany’s, where the first-ever Miss International Queen pageant carried on into the wee hours of this morning.

The contestants, from 11 Asian countries, Germany and France, primped backstage as they answered questions about the escapes from their male bodies.

Jesse Rogers, a 29-year-old fashion design student from Singapore, realised she was attracted to men when she – or he at the time – was in the army.

“I found that I liked men and that I wanted to be a woman,” she said. “I suspected it before, but I didn’t know for sure until then.”

Arisha Rani, a 29-year-old Indian beauty with curves Jennifer Lopez might envy, said “from childhood, I was always wearing my younger sister’s clothes.”

Dressed in her evening gown, the only visible scar on Rani – who has had all the necessary to physically become a woman – is a two-inch line across her throat, where doctors filed down her once prominent Adam’s apple. Even her Singaporean passport now identifies her as a woman.

Some contestants boasted lean, lithe arms and legs, dainty hands and plunging cleavage. The only giveaways were the ungainly feet, pronounced cheekbones and deep, throaty coughs and voices.

Waving painted nails in front of nervous faces and batting big eyelash extensions, they composed themselves to gracefully glide in high heels into the spotlight of the event, broadcast live in Thailand.

Some, like Sylvie Lynn, 40, from Paris, are part-time women. Lynn spends half her time as a male ski instructor, and the crisp outlines of her arm and back muscles reveal her Y chromosome.

She found out about the contest on the Internet and decided, “Why not?” She didn’t win any awards and just enjoyed the experience, while Rani was crushed to win first runner-up for the second time in as many pageants.

Guests at the event stared at almost every woman who attended the pageant, and one could see the question in their eyes: A “real” woman, or not?

The Miss International Queen title and £3,770 prize [263,000 Baht] went to college student Treechada Petcharat who passed the test – no one could guess she was once a boy.

“I don’t think that I’m more woman than the women here,” said a breathless Treechada, crowned with a jewelled tiara, beaming a perfect smile for flashing cameras. “But I definitely feel like a real woman.”

--Scotsman.co.uk 2004-11-07

And don't forget that tonight there'll be a "Man of the Year" beauty contest, or whatever you call it when it's handsome gay models!

"Steven"

Are we going to get banned for flaming ladyboys from this news clip?

Are we going to get banned for flaming ladyboys from this news clip?

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That's up to the admin guys, but in a Buddhist country with a 'live and let live' attitude, we should be able tolerate all fellow humans. Ladyboys are trying to cope with this world the same as you and I do. It must be difficult to find yourself in the wrong body and make a difficult decision on a limited budget. I wish them well and hope they find peace and happiness.

. I wish them well and hope they find peace and happiness. 

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Don't they want to get rid of their peace... or is that piece.. ?

totster

. I wish them well and hope they find peace and happiness. 

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Don't they want to get rid of their peace... or is that piece.. ?

totster

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Good one Totster. I hope they find peace; every guy I know finds his piece on a daily basis, some more often than that! Most of ladyboys I have met in Pattaya still have their piece and have no plan to lose it.

Pageant Photos

Beautiful, although, they look a little "stiff"

Beautiful, although, they look a little "stiff"

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The winner is certainly beautiful; go to page 3 of the photos and compare 'her' to the other 7 ladies in the photo. No contest. As I have often observed, the best looking lady on Walking St. is a guy.