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Popular Culture Review
Moreover, the plethora of names associated with kathoey>and kathoeyness in
popular Thai culture reflects an ‘‘occupation of a range of gender-spaces,
extending from non-male through a blend of male and female, to a subset of
female or even a third sex/gender'' (Winter 2003), all of which are not found in
western vocabularies. This alone makes an exploration of kathoey both a
difficult and insightful venture.
Kathoey can be found in many areas of Thai society, including
professional workers, entertainers, models, hairdressers, shop vendors, and sex
workers (Winter 2003b). Reports differ to the number of kathoey living in
Thailand. Estimates range from ten thousand (Ehrlich 1996), to three hundred
thousand (Winter 2002). Even if we take the lesser figure to be an accurate
estimate, it represents a higher ratio of transgendered people living in Thailand
than in many parts of the world (Kesteren et al 1996; Francoeur 1997).
In Bangkok, kathoey