the third sex

A cute young model arrived for a video shoot last weekend wearing her college uniform, having come straight from Saturday morning classes.

“You want me to get changed?” she asked, showing me a small bag into which she had packed a brightly coloured top and some shorts.

No! I said. You look perfect the way you are!

But I did give her uniform the once-over before we started, to make sure there were no distinguishing badges or other marks. The buttons had a school logo, but that wouldn’t be visible in a movie. I also reassured her that I have long ago blocked the site from being accessed within Thailand, so none of her teachers or schoolmates would see it.

Anyway, she was happy enough, although very shy and nervous, and we did the shoot.

Ladyboys turning up in their school uniform happens with surprising frequency. As I have written before on this site, there are now so many ladyboys attending schools and colleges throughout Thailand that the educational system makes allowances for them, providing them their own toilets and changing rooms and letting them wear the female uniform.

Often they cut classes to come and see me, or they come straight from school, tempted in by the chance to earn some easy money and to have their photograph taken.

There is a standard university uniform in Thailand, that only deviates in its detail. Girls wear white tops and black skirts, boys white shirts and black trousers. Badges and buttons distinguish the various institutes, and sometimes a necktie. I do have hanging in my props cupboard a number of uniforms, including uni uniforms, but very often the model you see on the main site is actually wearing her own uniform.

In the streets I frequently see ladyboys dressed in the female uniform. I have only ever seen them behaving demurely, and in fact in many instances it is only my super-rated ladyboy-detector vision that has picked them out as being ladyboys rather than genetic girls. Of course, they are under obligation not to let their school down, but the impression they give is that they have simply chosen the lifestyle because it seems natural to them, rather than being a revenue earner.

I had a heap of emails following my comments a couple of weeks ago on the youthful ladyboys of Buri Ram, and elsewhere upcountry, and of course very young ladyboys are also to be found in Bangkok. Eight-year-old fledgling ladyboys are not a great rarity. The fact that these youngsters are going through primary school, secondary school, and on to college or university in full ladyboy mode must surely be giving the educational authorities cause for much thought and perplexity.

Or maybe not. This is, after all, Thailand