Ask any person what comes to mind when they think of Thailand and you’ll hear the same things: “the beaches, the spicy food, the prostitution, and (yes!) the ladyboys.”

But why are there so many ladyboys in Thailand?

That’s the question we’re going to answer today–using scientific, historical, and cultural explanations.

Can science explain why there are so many ladyboys in Thailand?

The short answer: partly…

First off, we need to accept the fact that gender is a lot more complex and messy than we previously thought. Sorry to all of you “bro science” followers out there. Saying there are only two genders is reductive and unscientific.

In fact, even the idea of two sexes (male and female) is becoming an outdated notion. Science is finding that around 1% of people are either intersex or have some disorder of sex development (DSDs), which means their anatomical sex is somehow at odds with their chromosomal sex.

Gender and sex aren’t binary. So Thailand having ladyboys is no surprise. But what is surprising is the sheer amount of ladyboys in Thailand.

To answer why that is, we need to dive into the cultural element of the equation.

Does Thai culture lead to more ladyboys?

Yes. Put simply, the most obvious reason why there are more transgender individuals in Thailand than in other countries is due to societal acceptance.

In general, Thailand boasts a culture that is generally more accepting of gender diversity compared to other countries. Traditional Thai culture has long recognized a spectrum of gender identities beyond the binary of male and female.

In fact, “kathoeys” (the Thai word for ladyboys) have existed for many centuries in Thai culture. And ladyboys to this day remain a visible and accepted part of Thai society. So much so that they are regularly celebrated in social media and popular entertainment.

Thai ladyboys have gone on to become famous YouTubers, beauty influencers, actresses, models, and comedians.

Are there more ladyboys in Thailand because of Buddhism?

Buddhist philosophy, which emphasizes tolerance and compassion, can explain a large part of why there are so many ladyboys in Thailand.

This tolerance exists due to the role of reincarnation in Thai Buddhism that acknowledges every person could be born a ladyboy at least one time in their many lives. While some Buddhists believe people reborn as kathoeys did bad things in their past lives, they are more likely to have pity on them rather than judge them.

Put simply, transgender people in Thailand know that they can proudly be themselves without fear of societal shame or persecution. Obviously, this leads to more people doing so.

However, Thailand isn’t a land of rainbows and unicorns for ladyboys. They still face discrimination and stigmas. It’s just that the overall acceptance among Thais is much, much higher than in other countries.

What happens when a country is open-minded about gender identity?

Let’s use an example from the West to hammer home our point about why Thailand has more ladyboys than other places.

In places such as the US and Europe, there was a time when gays and lesbians were thought of as sinful and immoral due to conservative Christian culture. No surprise, there were very few people openly identifying as gay or lesbian.

As time went on and it became more accepted by society at large, more and more came out of the closet. In the US, the number of gay and lesbian individuals steadily grew from 1-3% in the 1990s to 9-10% in 2023.

The percentage of transgender people has also sharply increased in the West in recent years thanks to increasing societal acceptance. Funnily enough, this same phenomenon took place with left-handedness.

Historical perspective: Ladyboys are nothing new in Thailand (or the world)

Whether we like to admit it or not, the idea of gender and our definitions of masculinity and femininity have varied across cultures and times.

Here’s how the National Geographic sums it up:

“There’s ample evidence of gender variance throughout human history. Among the earliest are accounts of gala and galli, priests assigned male at birth who crossed gender boundaries in their worship of a variety of goddesses in ancient Sumer, Akkadia, Greece, and Rome. Other cultures acknowledged a third gender, including two-spirit people within Indigenous communities and Hijra, nonbinary people who inhabit ritual roles in South Asia.

“Some who challenged the gender binary occupied official roles. During the short reign of the Roman emperor best known as Elagabalus, who ruled from C.E. 218 to 222., the male-born leader adopted feminine dress, requested to be referred to as ‘she’, and expressed a desire for genital removal surgery. Shunned and stigmatized, Elagabalus was assassinated at age 18 and thrown into the Tiber River.”

The evidence of transgender people in Southeast Asian history is also strong. In fact, Thai literature and folklore mention transgender individuals who were revered for their beauty and talents.

And, a 13th-century Chinese diplomat wrote about seeing transgender women as part of the royal entourage in the Angkor Wat temple complex in Cambodia.

Are there actually more transgenders in Thailand?

Currently, rough estimates say that about 0.1% to 3% of the world population is transgender. In the US, estimates put that number at 1%.

Does Thailand really have more? Well, since there is no current census that asks this question in Thailand, the data is unfortunately unavailable. But anecdotal evidence suggests that it’s probably significantly higher.

It needs to be said, though, that the anecdotal evidence of foreigners visiting Thailand is almost certainly skewed in a way that overcounts.

The reason? Travelers going to Thailand spend a disproportionate amount of their time in places where ladyboys are overrepresented. Places like nightlife areas and red light districts in big cities–where people are more open-minded.

All in all, it’s probably safe to assume that 3% or more of Thailand’s population is transgender.

Ladyboys in Thailand: Final thoughts

The prevalence of ladyboys in Thailand comes down to a few things:

• Cultural acceptance due to its Buddhist background
• Ladyboys thriving in popular media
• A historical context involving transgender individuals
• Economic factors that make it financially possible to be trans in Thailand

So next time someone you know is shocked about the sheer amount of ladyboys in Thailand, you can bust out these facts!

Related: The Best Dating Apps to Use in Thailand in 2024, Ranked