Phuket Police To Crack Down On 'Vagabond Ladyboys'

[webfact]

Phuket police have 'vagabond ladyboys' in sight

CLOSE QUARTERS: A katoey and a tourist grapple on Soi Bangla.

SINGLE FILE: Katoey on Soi Crocodile line up for mandatory drug testing.

PHUKET: -- Ladyboys have become an entertainment mainstay in Patong, but unwitting tourists are seeing a shadier side to the festive scenes with robberies and assaults by ladyboys wandering the streets and beachfront.

Patong Police are working to curb these crimes before it affects tourism and have found that the issue stems from ladyboys moving to Phuket from other provinces.

Ladyboys, called katoey in Thai, are almost synonymous with Patong and responsible for much of Soi Bangla’s spectacle.

On the darker side of the “show” are the thefts and beatings that are perpetrated at the hands of the trans-gender katoey. Kathu police have put measures in place to fight these crimes and say that the bad behavior of some should not cast all Patong katoey in a bad light.

“They can be divided into two groups. First, the ones that have a place of work such as the bars in Soi Paradise. They do not cause trouble.” Patong Police Superintendent Arayapan Pukbuakao told the Phuket Gazette.

“The second type are those who spend their time on the beach and look for people to steal from. They are often involved in drugs and need money to fuel their habits,” he added.

Police have begun compiling information on katoey in Patong to help with identification. It is a continuous process, police say, as many travel from other provinces.

“Most of them come from places outside Phuket, especially Pattaya. We have already taken records of local katoey, some now help us as informants,” Col Arayapan explained.

To help deter them, police have begun fining unemployed ladyboys 300 to 500 baht for loitering and warning them of the consequences of crime.

“[These crimes] will destroy our image among tourists and we are trying to stop them by taking records. It seems to be working very well,” Col Arayapan added.

Details of about 50 katoey from Pattaya were recorded in December, but Col Arayapan said the numbers were sometimes as high as 100 per month.

In a typical scenario, tourists are approached by groups of ladyboys and wallets are stolen while the victims are distracted.

Another case that is common is when an unsuspecting tourist wakes up after sleeping with a ladyboy to discover he’s been robbed – or he wakes up and realizes he has no money to pay for the “services” of the ladyboy and a fight breaks out, Col Arayapan said.

Frank Tomensen, a public relations officer with the Tourist Police volunteers of Patong Beach, said that he’s seen many cases involving tourists and katoey.

“I’ve had complaints about guys having cameras and phones stolen. You get one or two, or maybe even three ladyboys come up and start touching and grabbing,” he said.

“In one case it happened as the guy’s wife was looking in a shop window and the ladyboys were touching him up,” he said.

“There is an increase [in the number of cases], as there is an increase in the amount of aggression. I am not sure if there are more of them than there were, but they’re getting a bit cheekier than they were, they are applying themselves a bit more because they are getting away with it,” he added.

Most cases do not see the light of day due to lack of evidence.

“Many tourists get their wallets stolen on the beach. There was one case of a drunk foreigner walking on the beach and some ladyboys tried to touch and kiss him. His wallet was taken while he was defending himself. He realized this the following morning and came to report the theft to police,” a local police officer, who asked not to be named, told the Gazette.

“Ladyboys are denied access to some bars in Patong,” he added.

Some establishments take a more intuitive approach to the issue.

“We accept ladyboys if they come to our clubs as customers but not if they arrive in a big group of ladyboys who come to our club looking for customers themselves,” Jari Leinonen, General Manager of Seduction Beach Club & Disco and Factory Bar, told the Gazette.

“This may cause problems, as tourists may think they are ladies but only find out later that they are ladyboys. We don’t risk this,” he said.

“The policies seem to work. In the two years that I have worked here we haven’t had any problems with ladyboys,” he added.

Katoey employed by Patong establishments distinguish themselves from those who are stealing from tourists.

“Most people think all ladyboys cause trouble, but actually its the ones who stand at the roadsides who are to blame,” said Sha-sha, a 24-year-old katoey working at Tootsie Ladyboy-Massage.

“We are not involved with them [“roadside” ladyboys], but at first the police were making records of every ladyboy in Patong. But, once we showed documentation proving our employment, we were left alone,” Sha-sha said.

Aussie David Crockford, 59, had his wallet stolen while visiting Phuket with two friends in mid-May.

Three katoey approached him while he was walking down a street in Patong. One attempted to hug him while another began touching him.

“That was probably when my wallet was taken,” he said.

Mr Crockford said he didn’t want to report the crime to police as it was a waste of time.

Aussie investment adviser and Patong condominium owner Matthew Bohlsen agrees that vagabond ladyboys are threatening Patong’s image as a safe place to party.

“I think [ladyboys] are okay for looking. I think they look nice and sexy,” he said.

“It’s bad because tourists are a big source of income and should be protected. I’ll be careful about ladyboys stealing,” he said.

-- Phuket Gazette 2011-06-09

[thaidiver]

“[These crimes] will destroy our image among tourists and we are trying to stop them by taking records. It seems to be working very well,” Col Arayapan added.

Yes, you must uphold the sterling image of Phuket.

[me313]

The people to beware of are the ersatz "realtors" who steal deposits, and they are not Ladyboys

[Thailand Traveler]

It's a pity to hear that. Most of the tourists visiting Patong and Bangla's road outlets travel there to enjoy the diversity of the place, and many fall genuinely in love with the lovely night creatures, some even get married. All these cracks donwn are not sending out positive message to the future loving couples.

[sirchai]

"[These crimes] will destroy our image among tourists and we are trying to stop them by taking records. It seems to be working very well," Col Arayapan added.

Yes, you must uphold the sterling image of Phuket.

Another case that is common is when an unsuspecting tourist wakes up after sleeping with a ladyboy to discover he’s been robbed – or he wakes up and realizes he has no money to pay for the “services” of the ladyboy and a fight breaks out, Col Arayapan said.

Time for the cops to jump in, arrest the poor lad to see how much he's got on his bank account. Haazip Haazip.....

P.S. Can't they wake up before sleeping with a lady-boy? :jap::lol:

[sirchai]

It's a pity to hear that. Most of the tourists visiting Patong and Bangla's road outlets travel there to enjoy the diversity of the place, and many fall genuinely in love with the lovely night creatures, some even get married. All these cracks donwn are not sending out positive message to the future loving couples.

True. Some need a couple of months to find out that they married a girl without an uterus. But therefore no menstruation problems.

[sirchai]

"[These crimes] will destroy our image among tourists and we are trying to stop them by taking records. It seems to be working very well," Col Arayapan added.

Yes, you must uphold the sterling image of Phuket.

Frank Tomensen, a public relations officer with the Tourist Police volunteers of Patong Beach, said that he’s seen many cases involving tourists and katoey.

Wasn't Frank the guy who just married one? :jap::jap:

[janderton]

a thai female working as a prostitute is a FREELANCER, a transexual working as a prostitute is a vagabond...

AMmAZzINg thailand

[animatic]

There are druggie thieves who happen to be ladyboys,

and ladyboys who are just going about their business.

Seems at least they are trying to draw lines between the two groups.

[pac4155]

At the top of the page of this article are "Self Defense Tips." I have one; if you don't want to get robbed, mugged, scammed or beaten up, don't come to Thailand.

[OzMick]

" Katoey on Soi Crocodile line up for mandatory drug testing."

It's mandatory for them to take drugs? Explains a lot!

[ableguy]

So the image of Phuket rests on having well behaved lady boys ? what a sad hole this is but hey Kudos to the ministry of crack downs for trying to block these cracks.

[doingok]

oh i think i will have cancel my trip as i will not put my wife in any danger?

[timsarus]

What about the 2year old dead after apparent rape in Pattaya Mail June 3rd issue page 4. By one of these transvestites. banglamung hospital called police after finding the boy with a bruised face and a badly torn anus. The forensics institute in Bangkok found nothing wrong. So nothing is being done about this defencelss childs death. I think this gives Thailand a worse name that people can do this to a child and walk away Scot free to do same thing again.

[Thailand Traveler]

It's a pity to hear that. Most of the tourists visiting Patong and Bangla's road outlets travel there to enjoy the diversity of the place, and many fall genuinely in love with the lovely night creatures, some even get married. All these cracks donwn are not sending out positive message to the future loving couples.

True. Some need a couple of months to find out that they married a girl without an uterus. But therefore no menstruation problems.

I do not think they are really interested in exotic barbies, rather they want to explore new sensual frontiers, going where they won't dare in their home countries. This is one of the reason so many foreigners love to settle down in Thailand. They finally feel free to expose their hidden sexuality, or multiplicity of it. World stats show a large increase (+180% in the last 6 months period) of male "crossing the border" and "venturing" into a brand new world of pleasure, my wife says.

Edited June 9, 2011 by Thailand Traveler

[arrowsdawdle]

So, now we have the katoey mafia to go along with the other Phuket mafioso. How dare those scabs from the country come to mafia turf and ply their trade.

Let's get this straight, no pun intended. Never mind legality, it's okay to engage in gender confused prostitution so long as you work for somebody in the mafia so they are not cut out of the loop? Who in their right mind would ever associate gender confused prostitution as tourism related? Sure there is a market for it but gender confused customers who would travel to engage in gender confused prostitution are not tourists and are not the target of any enlightened DMC strategy, skid row landlords notwithstanding.

But it is a waste of time calling attention to the obvious and riling gender confused customers to pull their heads from the acquired deficiency long enough to glimpse the world--into which they have failed to assimilate--and bolt to the defense of a surrogate reality, in a warped fog, where they take comfort in the synthetic attention of likewise misunderstood fellows and iconic organ donors that inhabit it.

[EyesWideOpen]

I have been here 11 years , and feel that the lady boys in general are a blight upon Thailand. Seems most of the crime stories in Pattaya start with the words" A lady boy". They have in essence become a single group crime wave here in Thailand. Every time they try to pick pocket me on Sukhumvit late at night, I tell them in a vicious voice to stay the hell away from me in Thai, and they keep their distance.

Even in Chiang Mai, the police finally woke up to the fact that a vast number of crimes against tourist were committed by lady boys, and they had a sort of half assed crack down where they were trying to chase down the streets at 2 in the morning, which is prime hunting time for them.

In my opinion the best thing Thailand could do is to stop them from working in the entertainment industry, as they cast Thailand in a very bad light on a continuous basis. There are in fact perhaps a few who are a woman trapped in a man's body. But the majority are men dressed in long hair and high heels, pretending to be a member of the softer sex, when they are anything but. Sort of like putting in a wolf in the sheep den........

[rik072]

At the top of the page of this article are "Self Defense Tips." I have one; if you don't want to get robbed, mugged, scammed or beaten up, don't come to Thailand.

Your comment really makes no sense

I have no idea what you are talking about? I have come to Thailand many years and never i had these problems.

Anyway maybe it is also the place where you are going and the people you deal with it

[LivinLOS]

Yes thats it.. Its the katoeys of Phuket who are bringing a bad light on the island.

Not the raw sewage in the sea

Not the tuk tuk thugs

Not the jetski thugs

Not the rampant corruption on every level

[Gers1873]

Happy I live near Pattaya and not Phuket. Its not a perfect place but we dont have many lady boys........ well I'm pretty sure we dont.

[Pinot]

The "girls" have been working Beach Road at 100 meters intervals for years. I thought the police had to be getting paid off to be operating so blatantly. Good luck getting the police to even take a report after losing a wallet. I always thought it would be pathetically easy to film these rip offs in action. I don't know why after all these years they're going to finally do something about it? We'll see how long the crack down lasts.

[Pui]

a thai female working as a prostitute is a FREELANCER, a transexual working as a prostitute is a vagabond...

AMmAZzINg thailand

...yes but so far nobody has reported female freelancers of violently robbing people. These transsexuals are not necessarily prostitutes either. Thats just a front. They are street robbers. Vagabond can mean drifter. These Ladyboys are not connected to bars.

If you visit any of the foreigner friendly entertainment zones in Thailand late at night and you will see groups of 3-4 Ladyboys praying on drunk guys. i've seen many violent incidents involving stiletto heels and knifes. When things go wrong, attaches happen quickly and effectively. I've seen this in both Bangkok patpong, Nana and beach road Pattaya.

The Police doing something about this is a good thing, its not discrimination as you suggest.

Violent street robbery is unusual in Thailand. I for one am glad to see the authorities doing something about it.

[dumpling]

At the top of the page of this article are "Self Defense Tips." I have one; if you don't want to get robbed, mugged, scammed or beaten up, don't come to Thailand.

is that replacing the old and tired "Amazing Thailand" slogan?

Edited June 9, 2011 by metisdead
Do not modify someone else's post in your quoted reply, either with font or color changes, added emoticons, or altered wording.

[exbelg]

haha, so now police is getting legal money (in their backpockets) for those ladyboys... before they had to take it, now they get it

[hellodolly]

At the top of the page of this article are "Self Defense Tips." I have one; if you don't want to get robbed, mugged, scammed or beaten up, don't come to Thailand.

Your comment really makes no sense

I have no idea what you are talking about? I have come to Thailand many years and never i had these problems.

Anyway maybe it is also the place where you are going and the people you deal with it

He is obviously not in Thailand. By his very definition of what happens in Thailand that would be saying he likes to get robbed,mugged, scammed and or beaten up.

Wait maybe he is here because he does enjoy those unpleasant events. He probably wanders down the dark alleys late at night.

Now about the lady boys. Well I am sure that keeping records is all that is needed to stop them. No sense in fining them or putting them in jail if you can accomplish the same thing by keeping records.

Now that is truly amazing.

[softgeorge]

It's a pity to hear that. Most of the tourists visiting Patong and Bangla's road outlets travel there to enjoy the diversity of the place, and many fall genuinely in love with the lovely night creatures, some even get married. All these cracks donwn are not sending out positive message to the future loving couples.

:cheesy: :cheesy:

Loving couples they are talking about ladyboys (men) it is not man meets girl thing.

[Tanaka]

Happy I live near Pattaya and not Phuket. Its not a perfect place but we dont have many lady boys........ well I'm pretty sure we dont.

Many of them have relocated to Phuket.

[ozzieovaseas]

oh i think i will have cancel my trip as i will not put my wife in any danger?

Is that a joke? It is not your wife that they are after

[wombat]

[Johpa]

I have been here 11 years , and feel that the lady boys in general are a blight upon Thailand.

I have been around off and on now for 30 years. I know one or two lady boys who are good friends and several more who are long time acquaintances, and I have had interactions with countless others and I find them, for the most part, delightful people. But I have never been to Pattaya and I have never been to Patong, so maybe I am just meeting the wrong people and not visiting the right places to become so prejudiced as to cast general aspersions towards this group.