The Miss Tiffany's Universe pageant contestants were perfectly made up, coifed and draped in glamorous gowns, convincingly masking their hidden truth -- that they were all born boys.
Through extensive plastic surgery and hormone popping, Thai men are expert at transforming themselves into transsexuals with long, lithe limbs, silky skin, and supreme femininity. Thirty transsexuals selected from 60 entrants from around Thailand competed in the annual Miss Tiffany's Universe pageant, broadcast live nationwide on Friday night.
Ratrawee Chirapraphakun, who was crowned Miss Tiffany's Universe 2006, said she competed in the pageant "to tell society to give transsexuals career opportunities and to be fair to us in all career fields. We don't have to be just beauticians or beauty contestants. We are just as capable as the real men and women out there."
Ratrawee received a 100,000 baht (US$2,600) grand prize and a new car.
One contestant, 25-year-old Suphaphit Sri-amorn, described getting injections to make a softer, more effeminate chin, and taking birth control pills to suppress male hormones that would have made her skin rougher and hairier.
Only her protruding Adam's apple and lower-pitched voice revealed her secret. "I couldn't do anything to help my voice," she said in a throaty tenor.
While Thailand is widely tolerant of homosexuals, transvestites and transsexuals, many must overcome family pressure and violence.
"My parents wanted me to be a soldier or a policeman because I'm their only son," said Suphaphit. "I was so stressed, I nearly killed myself. Why couldn't I be a normal man?"
Many contestants described being accepted by their families only after proving that they would be professionally successful, and not a financial burden.
"My father used to kick me, punch me, hit me, everything. I just had to be strong," said contestant Patcha Kitjarnuwat. "My parents accept me now ... because I take care of the entire house. I send them money. I built their house."
Miss Tiffany's, one of Thailand's most famous all-male cabaret theaters, has held the annual beauty pageant since 1998 in Pattaya, about 110km southeast of Bangkok.
The Miss Tiffany's pageant is held to promote tourism and also the rights of gay and transgender people.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in