I'm no expert on Thai society, but I'm fascinated by the role of transvestites and transsexuals in Thai movies and popular culture. The relative social acceptance of "lady boys" seems to be rooted in part in Buddhist tradition, but modern manifestations owe as much to Holllywood dreams as anything else. For instance: the "Greatest Lady-man Pageant in the World," which took place last Friday in Pattaya, promising lady-men "more beautiful than you have ever seen anywhere before."
Link to Lady-Man Pageant website, Link to Flash-based website for the forthcoming Thai film Beautiful Boxer ("He fights like a man so he can become a woman").
