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What Happens To Katoeys When They Get Older


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Posted

I have been here for 8 years and have long since stopped staring or being startled when seeing ladyboys. The perceived stereotype is that which one finds on Pattaya Beach late at night, and in other entertainment areas such as Patong, Nana etc. However, the glamorous ones such as seen at Tiffanys, Alcazar are many and work hard at their calling. I have also seen many in banks, car hire offices and the best looking lady in my lawyers office is, in fact, a man. I have also seen Katoeys in rural Thailand, who appear completely accepted in their society. I have seen 2 who were "married" to foreigners, and one who owned property here and in Hong Kong. Apparently she had many Chinese suitors.

In these 8 years, I have only ever seen one Katoey who I would say was over 50 years old. To be honest, the looks had gone and she looked more an old man than an old woman.

So, I wonder, where do they all go? What happens to them when their looks fade to such a point that they leave the tourist towns and go ---where?

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Posted

Some people seem incapable of posting without insulting others. Please do us a favour and just read the forum. Your contributions (deleted) are not needed.

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Posted

According to a piece i read ,many just revert back to being men and get married ,that is the reason many do not have the chop . , i have only seen one or two old ones in pattaya over the years ,both looked very rough.

Yip, i have heard this too.

Posted

According to a piece i read ,many just revert back to being men and get married ,that is the reason many do not have the chop . , i have only seen one or two old ones in pattaya over the years ,both looked very rough.

Yip, i have heard this too.

Yip where did you hear this?

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Posted

Like all other old biddies...everything sags and wrinkles.

Several years ago we were on an island off Koh Chang and I remember thinking to myself then...so this is where all the old ladyboys end up. There were a lot at this particular resort working.

Posted

Interesting..........I hadn't given it much thought either.

But when you consider the amount of effort they put in to make themselves more feminine, it must increase exponentially with time.

That is it must take much more effort as they get older, so they may just fade back into their maleness.....who knows?

Posted
So, I wonder, where do they all go? What happens to them when their looks fade to such a point that they leave the tourist towns and go ---where?

So you think they are only like that for the sake of the tourists?

Posted

Interesting..........I hadn't given it much thought either.

But when you consider the amount of effort they put in to make themselves more feminine, it must increase exponentially with time.

That is it must take much more effort as they get older, so they may just fade back into their maleness.....who knows?

yes, agree.

cement mixers and trowels are expensine here as is grouting and adfill.

Posted

too many cheap jokes here... so i try to bring in some serious thoughts, as the thread is in general and not in farang area...

So my first advice to all of you is, if you are seriously interested in what ever questions about Katoeys / Ladyboys, go out and talk with them.... and if they feel that you are really interested and not only trying to satisfy a morbid curiosity, they will answer all your questions... and I am speaking from experience

Second is that - not in general but from those ladyboys I did meet and learn to know over time - is that the age the same way every person ages... according to what is in their genes...

Some ladyboys are lucky to be naturally feminine, don't need to take loads of hormones and don't need loads of cosmetic surgery... and they will age pretty feminine and still look like older women tend to look... but others, who had all kind of (mostly cheep) surgeries and took loads of hormone, will have health and mental issues and tend to age very bad... and yes, suicide is unfortunately not unknown then...

But is it different from normal women? Look at some pics of celebs in their 50ies / 60ies and look how their surgeries tend to start make them look like zombies... they - as some Katoeys - did everything money can buy in order to look perfect while young... and I am sure most of them - same as the Katoeys - now really regret what they did in their past...

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Posted

According to a piece i read ,many just revert back to being men and get married ,that is the reason many do not have the chop . , i have only seen one or two old ones in pattaya over the years ,both looked very rough.

Yip, i have heard this too.

Yip where did you hear this?

Many different places, articles online / friends / TV shows.

Posted

My gf's uncle is a ladyboy, although he never had surgery etc as he lives rurally and is older anyway. I don't know what he was like when he was younger (in his 50s now), but these days he doesn't dress up much.

I think after years of it, he prefers to just relax and not spend as much money on makeup etc. instead he usually just dresses up for redshirt rallies etc when he can be the real center of attention.

As I think he mainly dresses up now for fun, and he knows when it's appropriate, when it's not and when it'd just be a waste of effort.

Posted

I always thought that katoeys are more from the later generation of Thailand,

in that there weren't that many around 40-50 years ago.

So in the next 20-30 yrs from now there will be many more older katoeys around.

I think it's due to social acceptance and medical improvements that weren't available

back in the 50's and 60's.

Posted

They dye their hair red. Or not .

I know one of each.

The one who doesn't doesn't cut the hair, speaks normally, works when (s)he can find some. Lives next door.

The redhead visits my MIL occasionally, speaks shrilly, and potters around on a motorbike.

Both part of normal village life.

Posted

they generally dont age well

How many older lady boys do you base that opinion on? Or is it just what you have heard from other people?

while i don't have that many lady boy "friends", i do know quite a few and they have been floating around in one guise or another for the majority of my 17 or so years in Thailand, and the vast majority have not weathered the storm well.

As i have seen, many have lives where excessive lifestyles in terms of drink and drug, and the hard living.

Many have ups and downs where they have become some tourists plaything only to be discarded once the glamour or the new toy wears thin. Too many repetitions of that cycle can be soul destroying perhaps more so for the ladyboys than the ladies.

I am well aware that there are ladyboys outside the hospitality and service industry, but beyond one very talented graphic designer, i have no personal experience with them

so, chose to accept or disregard what i say, i really couldn't care less.

Given you are admittedly old as the Thai soil and have been in-country since i was knee high to a grasshopper, perhaps you could provide your own impressions, or do you limit sharing your experience where it does not pertain to whether or not it is safe to eat the beef?

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Posted

they generally dont age well

How many older lady boys do you base that opinion on? Or is it just what you have heard from other people?

while i don't have that many lady boy "friends", i do know quite a few and they have been floating around in one guise or another for the majority of my 17 or so years in Thailand, and the vast majority have not weathered the storm well.

As i have seen, many have lives where excessive lifestyles in terms of drink and drug, and the hard living.

Many have ups and downs where they have become some tourists plaything only to be discarded once the glamour or the new toy wears thin. Too many repetitions of that cycle can be soul destroying perhaps more so for the ladyboys than the ladies.

I am well aware that there are ladyboys outside the hospitality and service industry, but beyond one very talented graphic designer, i have no personal experience with them

so, chose to accept or disregard what i say, i really couldn't care less.

Given you are admittedly old as the Thai soil and have been in-country since i was knee high to a grasshopper, perhaps you could provide your own impressions, or do you limit sharing your experience where it does not pertain to whether or not it is safe to eat the beef?

The older lady boys that I know own restaurants and wedding shops. I didn't meet them till they were already old so I don't know if they were attractive when young.

The older ones in have seen in the entertainment business were comics. I don't know if they are lady boys outside of the club I would think they are.

There are a lot of them in the West. I understand they open up ice cream shops in London.

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Posted

they generally dont age well

How many older lady boys do you base that opinion on? Or is it just what you have heard from other people?

while i don't have that many lady boy "friends", i do know quite a few and they have been floating around in one guise or another for the majority of my 17 or so years in Thailand, and the vast majority have not weathered the storm well.

As i have seen, many have lives where excessive lifestyles in terms of drink and drug, and the hard living.

Many have ups and downs where they have become some tourists plaything only to be discarded once the glamour or the new toy wears thin. Too many repetitions of that cycle can be soul destroying perhaps more so for the ladyboys than the ladies.

I am well aware that there are ladyboys outside the hospitality and service industry, but beyond one very talented graphic designer, i have no personal experience with them

so, chose to accept or disregard what i say, i really couldn't care less.

Given you are admittedly old as the Thai soil and have been in-country since i was knee high to a grasshopper, perhaps you could provide your own impressions, or do you limit sharing your experience where it does not pertain to whether or not it is safe to eat the beef?

The older lady boys that I know own restaurants and wedding shops. I didn't meet them till they were already old so I don't know if they were attractive when young.

The older ones in have seen in the entertainment business were comics. I don't know if they are lady boys outside of the club I would think they are.

There are a lot of them in the West. I understand they open up ice cream shops in London.

thanks for replying, you have been fortunate to encounter a few with their feet on the ground.

It must be said of course, that Ladyboys, like all women in Thailand have the ability to chose different paths, however i would say that their lives hold a few more pitfalls then those of normal women.

The ones that end up in the sex trade are unfortunately the most identifiable, and are likely what the OP had in mind when asking where they go. They are certainly who i had in mind when i said generally they don't age well

There are those however that tread a more conventional path chasing careers etc much like everyone else. As with all things, it is often merely a the accident of circumstance that directs them.

Any ladyboy from decent family with an excellent education, ambition and a level head can grow old gracefully if they chose. There is no need to ask where they went as, they havent gone anywhere, they have been there all along living their lives just as you or i would.

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