Transsexual Thai Air Hostesses: Gimmick Or Equality?

[TexasRanger]

Right, I asked my wifes' friend last night (a khatoey) and the response was that it is a gimmick of course and it just makes advertising for the airline, in his opinion the ladyboys will never get a fair shake in Thailand. When I mentioned equality he just laughed and said they won't employ any ugly ladyboys. Fair point!

You're right of course, but then again airlines rarely employ old, ugly women either.

Living on Phuket, I often see khatoeys working in shops. It still takes me a little by suprise (you just don't see that in the West), but it is good to see that they are not always pushed into the entertainment industry.

I beg to differ. In some cosmopolitan areas of the U.S. anyway, sometimes you do see transgender people in such roles.

I don't doubt that you are right.

Living in England and working in London I never saw a transgender person working in a shop etc. But, it could well be that England is more 'backwards' than cosmopolitan areas of the US.

I think it has more to do with the fact that the average Westerner looks ridiculous in drag but Thai's and some South Americans can pull it off by looking almost feminine.

[Ijustwannateach]

I have now reached my modly off-topic and gay-bashing limit for this thread. All future posts need to be strictly on topic. Recent posts which refer to gays (or their genes) as 'errors' or 'perversions' will be removed and their posters warned. Posters are advised to familiarise themselves with the forum rules against bashing minorities before posting.

[onthemoon]

I've often wondered what transexuals/ladyboys do when they get old, ugly and no one wants to have sex with them. How do they live? How do they support them selves? What do they do with the natural occurance of facial hair as they get older? I'm not bashing, rather wondering. Seems to me being one is such a waste. To each his own I guess.

Hm. You seem to know only transsexuals in the sex industry. This has nothing to do with the topic, but does say something about you.

[onthemoon]

The primary role of Cabin Staff aircrew is to make people aware of where the emergency exits are and the procedure to be followed in the case of an emergency, the location of all emergency and first aid equipment and how and when to use it, and to ensure that panic does not break out if things go awry. Knowledge of food and wines, currency exchange rates, customs regulations at the destination country and a working knowledge of how an aircraft works and flies are also prerequisites. Cabin staff must pass stringent tests on all these things before they are granted a licence which relates to aircraft type and, if as I was, subject to flying in 3 different aircraft types, had to hold a separate licence for each. In every calendar month two flights must be made in an aircraft for which you hold a licence or the licence is suspended. Part of the test was being blindfolded and taken to the foot of the steps to an aircraft and told to return with an item of equipment so that one firstly had to grope around to ascertain what the aircraft type was and then proceed to obtain, say a fire axe or an oxygen bottle.

Each aircraft in public service must be crewed by licence holders in the ratio of 1:50 seats. Stewards and stewaresses are tested annually and subject to the attentions of inflight senior Cabin Staff Inspectors at about three monthly intervals. They are required to be smartly attired, efficient and courteous at all times. Cabin staff are much much more than pretty faces or eye candy. The only occasion that hotel rooms were shared in my experience was by invitation.

The gender and sexual preferences of aircrew were very much a private matter and of no concern to others. Nor should they be to passengers. Given that in the UK population 4% of the male members have homosexual leanings then in a Jumbo jet you may be in the company of 16 males whose predelictions in sexual matters may want to make you make use of a sick bag. Have a good trip.

P.S. one of the nicest people that I have had the pleasure of knowing, but not in the biblical sense, is a Katoey who weighs in at about 230 pounds. She is kind, considerate and helpful and takes care of an ignorant, drunken, scruffy, lying thief who many wish would attract the attention of the Immigration department.

Good post, thanks.

No, I am not a transsexual. I am quite happy to be a man. But I just cannot understand the people who seem to bash transsexuals in this thread. What is wrong with you? What exactly does that have to do with you that you feel threatened by them this much?

[animatic]

Right, I asked my wifes' friend last night (a khatoey) and the response was that it is a gimmick of course and it just makes advertising for the airline, in his opinion the ladyboys will never get a fair shake in Thailand. When I mentioned equality he just laughed and said they won't employ any ugly ladyboys. Fair point!

You're right of course, but then again airlines rarely employ old, ugly women either.

Living on Phuket, I often see khatoeys working in shops. It still takes me a little by suprise (you just don't see that in the West), but it is good to see that they are not always pushed into the entertainment industry.

I beg to differ. In some cosmopolitan areas of the U.S. anyway, sometimes you do see transgender people in such roles.

I don't doubt that you are right.

Living in England and working in London I never saw a transgender person working in a shop etc. But, it could well be that England is more 'backwards' than cosmopolitan areas of the US.

I agree they are a presence in many jobs, not just theatrically.

Not as much as here, but in larger American cities they are there

and not hiding.

[EyesWideOpen]

Gimmick....As such, PC air is in fact sort of demeaning them. Successful airlines around the world employ attractive slim women as air hostesses, especially Asian airlines. Watch some of the ads for Emirates air, or Singapore air if you do not believe me. This is a very long term successful business model that has been proven to work. So to attempt anything else, such as employing dwarfs, bearded ladies, transsexuals, or raging gay men, is either a gimmick, or your company enjoys wasting money by trying something that has not worked anywhere else.....

[cowslip]

Gimmick....As such, PC air is in fact sort of demeaning them. Successful airlines around the world employ attractive slim women as air hostesses, especially Asian airlines. Watch some of the ads for Emirates air, or Singapore air if you do not believe me. This is a very long term successful business model that has been proven to work. So to attempt anything else, such as employing dwarfs, bearded ladies, transsexuals, or raging gay men, is either a gimmick, or your company enjoys wasting money by trying something that has not worked anywhere else.....

Perhaps rather than concentrating on airlines with sexist employment policies, you might also look at Qantas, BA and those airlines who do employ gay men. Hoever as you use the term "raging" it really shows up your one personal prejudices in this area.

[cowslip]

Right, I asked my wifes' friend last night (a khatoey) and the response was that it is a gimmick of course and it just makes advertising for the airline, in his opinion the ladyboys will never get a fair shake in Thailand. When I mentioned equality he just laughed and said they won't employ any ugly ladyboys. Fair point!

You're right of course, but then again airlines rarely employ old, ugly women either.

Living on Phuket, I often see khatoeys working in shops. It still takes me a little by suprise (you just don't see that in the West), but it is good to see that they are not always pushed into the entertainment industry.

I beg to differ. In some cosmopolitan areas of the U.S. anyway, sometimes you do see transgender people in such roles.

I don't doubt that you are right.

Living in England and working in London I never saw a transgender person working in a shop etc. But, it could well be that England is more 'backwards' than cosmopolitan areas of the US.

I agree they are a presence in many jobs, not just theatrically.

Not as much as here, but in larger American cities they are there

and not hiding.

Living in England and working in London I never saw a transgender person working in a shop etc. But, it could well be that England is more 'backwards' than cosmopolitan areas of the US.

...you mean you never noticed

Edited March 14, 2012 by cowslip

[TempleTiger]

^ Good thing that the worlds changing, with outdated narrow mindedness along with it.

i believe nature sometimes mixes things up in many ways from time to time, including a persons gender

Look at his photo on the prev.page.

Now you wanna tell me that this head thinks that it is smarter than a Mother Nature - to start his own game with his own rules? C'mon, gimme a break....

Nature will win just in one step: no offsprings from such a careless gamers who dare to play Gods. Bingo!

What a wasted life...wasted by his own decision and choice.

What a narrow-minded, shallow person you are. Leave people to make their own choices in life as long as it does no harm to others. God (yours not mine) has no part in this, it is a personal thing. Are gays next on your hit-list?

i have no inclination other than for females but she is still a person and should be allowed to lead her life the way she chooses.

[oops]

Good job PC. Even if the airline benefits from the publicity. More real jobs for transladies! And guys admit that one reason you are there is the lack of stigma and sin around sex. "Judeo Christian sexual repression"....aka sex is bad, go to work. Thank you Thailand for being different. As far as genetics, think about it ? Do any of you men out there really want to go under the knife and have the lads removed

if you were not really sure some one stuck you in the wrong body?

It would of been funnier if you said the wrong boots..

[cowslip]

Some of these posts give an amazing insight into TV posters and the lack of awareness of their own sexuality.

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Edited March 18, 2012 by cowslip

[TexasRanger]

Some of these posts give an amazing insight into TV posters and the lack of awareness of their own sexuality.

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How do you mean, could you explain? Lack of awareness of their own sexuality? How can people be unaware of their own sexuality?

[oops]

Right, I asked my wifes' friend last night (a khatoey) and the response was that it is a gimmick of course and it just makes advertising for the airline, in his opinion the ladyboys will never get a fair shake in Thailand. When I mentioned equality he just laughed and said they won't employ any ugly ladyboys. Fair point!

You're right of course, but then again airlines rarely employ old, ugly women either.

Living on Phuket, I often see khatoeys working in shops. It still takes me a little by suprise (you just don't see that in the West), but it is good to see that they are not always pushed into the entertainment industry.

You've never been in America and flown with the local carreirers. We have women that are so old and fat it's hard to believe that they didn't bring them in by wheelchair. In fact I remember getting on a flight to go from Portland Oregon to Texas....not only was the flight attendent old fat and ugly but her lipstick was smeared, something straight out of a chubby chase movie. What was even more disturbing is the other flight attendents never said anything to her about her lipstick. Which means that she is or was delerious. The lipstick was clearly all over her face like a toddler put it on for her. This demonstraits there is an underlying problem and nobody is willing to say something...refering to the other flight attendent here recently that got on the intercom and starting screaming we are going to crash....it took 5 people to hold her down, all this as they were taxi out to the run way for take off. Luckly they didn't leave. After she was secured the other flight attendent got on the intercom and said....we are sorry and everything is ok....she just forgot to take her medecine. &lt;deleted&gt;!. Why was she even flying...? THANK YOU UNIONS>...and unions won't allow transgender people to fly from my understanding

[TAWP]

I hope this leads to less positions being restricted due to sexuality - equal rights for all.

[Ijustwannateach]

As I've previously mentioned, off-topic posting is not going to continue. An off-topic post has been deleted. Thanks to the other recent posters for paying attention.

[theblether]

The first duty of an air attendant is passenger safety, they must be fit for the job and they must be able to handle the doors correctly. In basic training, if the trainee attendant are given three attempts to handle the doors correctly, if after the third attempt they fail they are immediately dismissed from the course without appeal.

If you ever talk to flight attendants they will tell you that they detest being treated like servants, detest it, as their primary role is safety. They must be fit for the job, as the job is physically demanding, working at an artificial 8,000 foot cabin pressure level with major time pressure and demanding passengers, so weight limitations etc are relevant, not just aesthetics.

Legend would have it that many Air Stewards are gay, I don't care, I don't care if they are lesbian, and I don't care if they are transexual. In fact I don't even care if they are hetrosexual. I only care that if the hit's the fan they will do their job.

I don't care if my ER doctor is gay, lesbian, transexual or hetrosexual, I only care that they are good and that they will give me the best treatment.

I feel empathy for the TS community, especially the one's that stay away from the entertainment industry. I do not know, and it is not for me to reason why, they feel trapped in the wrong body. It is a matter for them and them alone, and if they can make their way in "normal" society then that is fantastic with me. I put "normal" in apostrophe as some members of the "normal" community are deviant beyond belief.

I said earlier I can't wait until news stories like this are not newsworthy any more, it is an act of cruelty to deny this community a normal life due to their sexuality. I was brought up to not be cruel to anyone or anything. I hope this intake of TS air stewards are fantastically successful, and they set down a marker for the rest of the TS community that it is possible to work in high profile jobs.

I fail to understand how any one can get exercised about some else's LEGAL sexuality, if you get uptight at the concept of gay, lesbian or TS people working with you or around you, I suggest the problem is with you. I can see a lot of people on this thread that have a problem.

Good luck to this intake of TS Air Stewards.

[oops]

Some of these posts give an amazing insight into TV posters and the lack of awareness of their own sexuality.

<div id="myEventWatcherDiv" style="display:none;">&nbsp;</div>

How do you mean, could you explain? Lack of awareness of their own sexuality? How can people be unaware of their own sexuality?

The same way some Thai's drive...just because they drive doesn't mean they have to be aware of anything when it is eaiser to run it over....

[Yunla]

RE: Aircraft attendants, recent research is increasingly showing that the air-quality on planes is so bad it causes cancer with long term exposure, due to unfiltered jetfumes & other pollutants. Anybody who wants to work in that environment & is presentable & helpful to customers should be able to do so. If anything the problem here is making a spectacle of it. Simply employing TG people and skipping the fanfare would have been better imo.

We live on a planet with an out-of-control population curve, soaring into 7 billion people, with an ultimate result of not enough food/water/housing/jobs to go round, trying to cater for this overpopulation is already causing intensive over-farming of the land and permanently damaged soil & extinction of ocean-life. Projections are for future wars to be not oil-wars but wars for farming land and for drinking water. An overpopulated future involves a lot of queuing and competing for basics.

When you see somebody on such a planet who chose sterility & to have no kids, the word you should consider is "thankyou".

Additionally the idea that all Tgirls have deep voices and pick fights and stand-out is laughable. Some Tgirls you would *never* notice any differences from a natal female, regardless of how close you got and for how long. Also worth remembering are that some birth females are infact tall and broadshouldered & have wrestler's arms & jaws you could crack rocks on. Genes are a very powerful thing & a lot of birth females don't look it.

RE: transgender in general there are good people and bad people in the trans community, the same as in every single social category. Being trans neither makes you an angel or a devil automatically. Most modern transgender refuse to be grouped with other post-operatives simply because they both had surgery, you might as well say that two people who both had dental surgery or tonsil-removal surgery will both be great human beings or monsters & they'll be the same kind of person because they've had the same medical procedure.

It is also wrong to discuss trans in relation to gay/straight, as trans is not a sexual preference nor is it a sexuality.Trans is about personal identity & as such it is nobody's business except the person whose identity it is.

Edited April 10, 2012 by Yunla

[Bagwan]

Different strokes for different folks. Eons ago when I was a youngish man I spent nearly three years as an airline steward. BA and BEA both recognised that women were often transported by air and they too liked to look at something that they could have fantasies about. Some passengers like transgender peoples of both persuasions so why not cater for them? Just as long as you have your particular brand of eye candy available why should you care?

Far fewer of the male stewards at that time were homosexual as people might suppose. Like most of my chums, bonking the stewardess was considered a tad passe and it was much more fun picking up female passengers, particularly when they were accompanied by their husbands. If the lady paid the bar bill, it was an even money bet that she'd written her telephone number on the banknote.

[GentlemanJim]

So when the cabin crew in many Asian airlines have to share hotel accommodation to cut down on costs, which rooms do they put a transgender in? It won't be long before the bean counters (there is a pun in there somewhere ) decide that this policy is a no go on cost grounds.