Thai kathoeys: transwomen of Siam

Thai kathoeys have long been recognised in the Kingdom of Siam and are now known globally. This article was translated from the original French, by me, and edited and improved. According to Buddhist precepts, being kathoey might be a "punishment" from a previous life: in it, the man cheated on a woman and to understand how she feels, he is reborn as a woman in a man's body. In part thanks to this legend, the kathoey are accepted in the Land of Smiles. After all, in a culture where male philandering is practically standard, being a kathoey might be the fate of all such men, in a future life. As a result of this tolerance, at time of writing, Thai kathoeys were more numerous there than transwomen in all of Europe com