Firstly they are split into 2 different groups. Firstly are the young men who know their femine side is the dominant one but who have not been able to do anything about it, mainly through lack of money. :cry: Most are from upcountry but all, eventually, find their way down to Bangkok. There they soon learn there are only 3 ways they can get out of their predicament and raise enough money to have the operation which would turn them into what they aspire to be, ladies. Basically this is prostitution, crime or showbiz. So much depends on who they become friends with in Bangkok.
To earn big money fairly quickly then prostitution is a huge temptation. (I must add here we are talking of young men, not children. Ladyboys abhore child prostitution as much as anybody.) If they are really unlucky they will get with one the teams of ladyboys who harass tourists and locals alike to pick pocket, snatch handbags or steal anything to raise money. By the time the gang split the proceeds each one does not 'earn' much. It is almost certain that, sooner or later, they will end up in the 'monkey house' (jail) :cry: Occasionally the local government decide it is time for a crackdown and the police will make indiscriminent swoops. If you do not have enough 'tea money' (bribes) then you will be carted off. So then they end up selling their bodies for cigarettes and food.
If you have any kind of talent, be it singing, acting, playing an instrument or whatever then you have a good chance of teaming up with a ladymen group as a performer. Here they will be taken under the wings of older ladyboys, known as katoes, who will take good care of them, help them to better their performing skills and be able to advise them on such things as good doctors, clinics etc. If in a concert group the ladyboys are encouraged to save (not a natural thing for Thais who very much live for the day) so they can get their operations as quickly as possible.
As a generalisation, for each person is different, I can say the ladyboys I have met are generally polite but with a sense of sadnes hanging over them. By contrast the katoes, with their theatrical training, are extremely witty and great company. Having become what they aspired to for so long the ladies learn very quickly how to dress, use makeup to its best affect and very often are far more beautiful than the Thai ladies. When you consider how beautiful the ladies of Thailand are perseved by the rest of the worl that is a compliment indeed.
I well remember one of my first meetings with a bunch of katoes. It was in Chang Mai, a northern city, and I could not help but notice many beautiful women going into a disco opposite. I asked the girl at the bar what was happening and she told me it was a beauty pageant. I went over to the disco to have a look and it was not until the announcer crowned the winner and told us we had the new Miss Katoe Thailand I realised all these beauties were, by birth, men. After the show they all mixed easily with the patrons of the event and it was here I first came upon their delightful, gentle humour and open friendliness.
Thailand is meant to be a 'third world' country, but the population treats ladyboys and katoes as they would anyone else. Many people in the west, including U.K., would do well to accept those who are thought to be 'different' in the same open way. :lol
I have not studied the culture of the katoe in any depth, though am well aware of the accepted 3rd sex in Thailand. From personal observation I doubt very much the modern katoe is as deeply into the Buddhist part of her life as her predecessors. Of course they may well be at home, and knowing the farang's ignorance about such things. and the western hang-ups, these delightful, charming ladies do not discuss such things with us, doubting if we would fully understand. :lol: 