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Volume 10, Number 5

Kathoeys of Thailand: A Diversity Case inInternational Business

Marie-Therese Claes

THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DIVERSITY IN ORGANISATIONS, COMMUNITIES AND NATIONS http://www.Diversity-Journal.com First published in 2011 in Champaign, Illinois, USA by Common Ground Publishing LLC www.CommonGroundPublishing.com. © 2011 (individual papers), the author(s) © 2011 (selection and editorial matter) Common Ground Authors are responsible for the accuracy of citations, quotations, diagrams, tables and maps. All rights reserved. Apart from fair use for the purposes of study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act (Australia), no part of this work may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. For permissions and other inquiries, please contact <cg-support@commongroundpublishing.com>. ISSN: 1447-9532 Publisher Site: http://www.Diversity-Journal.com THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DIVERSITY IN ORGANISATIONS, COMMUNITIES AND NATIONS is peer-reviewed, supported by rigorous processes of criterion-referenced article ranking and qualitative commentary, ensuring that only intellectual work of the greatest substance and highest significance is published. Typeset in Common Ground Markup Language using CGCreator multichannel typesetting system http://www.commongroundpublishing.com/software/

Kathoeys of Thailand: A Diversity Case in InternationalBusinessMarie-Therese Claes, ICHECBrussels Management School, Belgium

Abstract: In Thailand, where transgender people, called kathoey, are a common sight at differentlevels of activities, a case of discrimination by a European company led to a closer study of transgenderposition in Thai society, especially in the work environment. This article examines the social and legalsituation of kathoey in Thailand, as well as the attitudes towards them in society in general. It alsoattempts to understand the role of Buddhism in the formation of these attitudes. In the above case ofdiscrimination Thai managers started raising questions about the extent to which they should adaptto headquarters’ discriminating culture. The issue of introducing discrimination is an example of theinfluence of western organizations’ transfer of business practices to countries that depend on theirinvestments. The struggle for anti-discrimination laws and practices in Thailand may be underminedby the introduction of such practices. On the other hand, western organizations face the dilemma ofchoosing between their values that favour diversity and the impact of their decisions on their image,locally and internationally.

Keywords: Transgender, Kathoey, Business Practices, Thailand, International Business, DiversityManagement

Introduction

ACASEOF transgender discrimination in Thailand, concerning the local recruitmentand subsequently refusal of a kathoey in the Thai subsidiary of a western companyled to the examination of the social and legal status of transgender persons inThailand, their rights, their position in Thai society, their problems, and the impact

of internationalization on discriminatory practices.Discrimination by western headquarters and the ensuing questioning by Thai managers

about the extent to which they should adapt to headquarters’ discriminating culture mightbe interpreted as an example of the way western organizations transfer business practices tocountries that depend on their investments. The struggle for anti-discrimination laws andpractices in Thailand may be undermined by the introduction of such practices that are illegalboth in the parent country and in Thailand.

On the other hand, western organizations face the dilemma of choosing between their‘diversity’ values and the impact of their decisions on their image, locally and internationally.Indeed, in most western cultures, Thai transgender persons or kathoeys will be associatedwith the sex industry in Thailand.

After describing the diversity case and the impact it has on Thai society and on Thaimanagers’ attitude towards western values and demands, we will look at the phenomenonof transgenderism in modern Thai society and its social and legal aspects. In internationalbusiness, western organizations will be confronted with this phenomenon, its image and itsimpact. The case suggests that the impact of introducing ‘western’ business practices may

The International Journal of Diversity in Organisations, Communities and NationsVolume 10, Number 5, 2011, http://www.Diversity-Journal.com, ISSN 1447-9532© Common Ground, Marie-Therese Claes, All Rights Reserved, Permissions:cg-support@commongroundpublishing.com

be much more important for the organization as well as for Thai society than might be ex-pected, but it also illustrates the dilemma international companies may face.

The Diversity CaseThe case is the story of a kathoeywho was invited to a talk show on Thai television to explainhow she was the victim of discrimination by a European firm established in Thailand. Shehad applied for a job as sales representative for this company, and received a contract thatwas signed by the human resource manager (Thai) and by the general manager in Thailand(European). On the contract her name is preceded by the word ‘Mr.’, which is customary inThailand. When this contract was sent to European headquarters, it came back with a notesaying that the contract had to be cancelled. The Thai subsidiary had to withdraw the contractwith a minimum compensation for the candidate.

Thai managers were shocked by this turn of events, as it was clearly a case of discriminationaccording to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Anti discrim-ination legislation in Europe (European Commission) in Article 6 of the Treaty of Amsterdam(1997) states that the European Union “is founded on the principles of liberty, democracy,respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.” In 1997, the Member States reinforcedthe Union’s capacity for upholding these principles by introducing Article 13, which conferredon the Community the competence to “take appropriate action to combat discriminationbased on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation.”The insertion of Article 13 was directly followed by the Commission’s proposal of an “anti-discrimination package”, which included the Community Action Program to Combat Dis-crimination and both the Racial Equality Directive and the Employment Equality Directive.Since 2000, in addition to laws covering the equal treatment of men and women, EU anti-discrimination legislation has been in place to ensure minimum levels of equal treatmentand protection for everyone living and working in Europe.

These Directives, adopted in 2000, prohibit discrimination, harassment and victimizationin employment and training on the grounds of religion or belief, disability, age or sexualorientation. They also prohibit discrimination on the grounds of race or ethnic origin in em-ployment and areas beyond such as education, social security and social advantages, includinghousing and healthcare, and access to goods and services. While many European countriesalready had legislation against discrimination, the new laws aim to establish a consistent setof rights and obligations across the Union. This implies that victims of discrimination, har-assment or victimization can now take action, and those involved in discriminatory practicescan be held accountable, although how this is done will vary from country to country.

Although Article 13 of the Treaty does not explicitly cover transgender discrimination, itcan be deduced from the case law of the Court of Justice that discrimination on grounds ofthe gender reassignment of a person would be covered by the ban on discrimination ongrounds of sex. Directive 2006/54/EC aims to consolidate (and repeal) a number of separateDirectives that already exist on gender equality as well as codifying some of the case-law;all with a view to making the law more transparent. It includes explicit protection againstdiscrimination arising from the gender reassignment of a person.

All this shows that the discrimination against the recruitment of the kathoey was illegalin the European Union. It was also illegal in Thailand.

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On the one hand, one has to take into consideration the dilemma for the Western company.In most countries in Europe, the concept of “ladyboys” is associated with Thai sex industry,and people don’t necessarily have the knowledge of the role and acceptance of kathoey inThai society. A company that would recruit a kathoey might fear that this would harm theirimage in the western world if not indeed in Thailand itself. Uncertain about how recruitinga kathoeywould be perceived in Thailand and by their business partners worldwide, managersmay prefer to abstain, even at the risk of making a decision contrary to their diversity policy.

The impact of the case in Thailand is twofold. The image of the company suffers, as Thaipublic would react with incomprehension and disapproval. But the impact reaches muchfurther, if one considers that Thai middle managers reflected that Thai subsidiaries shouldprobably take into consideration the wishes and requirements of the foreign companies ifthey wanted to attract foreign investment in Thailand. This attitude reflects certain willamong Thais who consider themselves to be international economically and culturally‘modernised’ to deny kathoey a role in modern Thailand if not limited to cabaret and enter-tainment.

At this point we have to look at the development of the important convergence and uni-versalism debates in light of possible applications in different economies, and trends suchas globalization and ‘best practices’. Rowley and Warner (2007) argue that the conceptualformation of Human Resource Management (HRM) in Asia is not a purely ‘Western’ notionbut a mix of both ‘Eastern’ and ‘Western’ conceptualizations, rather a ‘hybrid’ model. Inthe developing economies, such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, investment in HRMis fast-growing; and we find a ‘dual-sector’ economy, with Multi National Companies (MNC)providing the lead but with a large number of small businesses with less sophisticated prac-tices. However, the more dependent on foreign capital and MNCs’ activities countries are(for example, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand), the more Western style HRM practices may beadopted.

Thailand counts 1740 foreign company subsidiaries, across 37 industry sectors. ForeignDirect Investment (FDI) is high and important for the economy (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: FDI in Thailand (FDI Net, 2009)

Wage and salaried workers increased globally while East Asia and South East Asia and thePacific continued with lower rates and the latter fell behind the former. In his article in theFinancial Times (2002), Rowley argues that not only have ‘best practices’ been transferred,but also ‘worst practices’, in particular those that exploit workers. In Thailand, labour rightsare indeed an issue, and trade unions lack critical mass and influence.

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Trade unions in Thailand have not been considered to be a major political pressure group,but they still have campaigned on issues of specific worker benefits such as wages, unem-ployment insurance and occupational health and safety (Charoenloet et al. 2002). Generally,trade unions are weak, fragmented and occasionally engage in power struggles within theirorganizations. Because of its weakness, the trade union movement needs to cultivate socialalliances. The labour-related NGOs are the main social forces that have supported the tradeunion movement since the beginning of the 1990s. Statistics provided by the Ministry ofLabour in 2001, showed that out of 11 million private sector employees, about 285,000 or2.6 percent of employees were trade union members. In the state enterprises, out of 271,645employees, 165,546 or 60.94 percent of employees were trade union members. These statisticsshow that union density in the private sector is very low, and the average membership foreach union is also small at 250.2. The low percentage of trade unions in the private sectoris one of the important reasons for trade unions to depend on international financial support,since they do not have enough money from union subscriptions to manage their activities.

Lawler and Suttawet (2000) discuss unions and regulations in Thailand arguing that indeveloping countries such as Thailand unionism has often been an instrument of nationalism.During the 90s, the fear of privatisation has made unions oppose such moves. The fate ofprivate sector unions is linked to State Owned Enterprises (SOE) unions and ‘the diminishingstrength of the unions does not seem to have had much impact on the typical worker, partlybecause unions have been generally weak in the private sector and partly because the SOEunions seemed to create a privileged elite within the workforce rather than extend effectiverepresentation to a larger number of workers’. The authors conclude that the effects ofglobalisation and deregulation on the labour movement in Thailand have undercut the viab-ility of the labour movement there. No doubt Thai culture also plays a role here. “Thai societyis hierarchical in character, with tendencies to defer to ‘social superiors’, which is often re-flected in the processes by which organizations are managed. Such ‘ordering’ is supportedby Buddhist doctrine, which encourages individuals to be accepting of their current situationin life (seen as a consequence of one’s past life) and to work for a good ‘next life’ “(Rowley& Benson 2002:202).

Article 63 of the Constitution of 2007 provides freedom of association to civil servants,but implementing laws have not been passed, so they are effectively still excluded fromcoverage by all labour laws. The government continued to refuse to register or recognise theNational Thai Teachers Union (NTTU) (ITUC-CSI-IGB, 2008).

Given the poor representation in trade unions, a worker like the kathoey in our case haslittle choice but to address the Labour Court, which is costly and ‘inefficient’ (ITUC-CSI-IGB, 2008), or go on a talk show on Thai television, exposing the discrimination.

But what does it mean to be a kathoey in Thailand, and how are kathoey perceived in Thaisociety? We have to look at the issues of transgenderism, in particular in Thailand, in orderto understand the impact of the case in Thai and in international business.

TransgenderismThe terminology may be confusing. What is the difference between a transvestite, a trans-gender, and a transsexual person? According to Whittle (2002, cited in Swann & Green2005) “Gender dysphoria is a recognised medical condition. Those who experience thecondition do not feel, on the inside, to be of the gender that their bodies are perceived to be.

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Many experience such intense and prolonged discomfort that they undergo a process ofgender role transition in which they express their innate gender identities and, usually, obtainmedical treatment to modify their bodies accordingly. They may be regarded as having thecondition termed transsexualism.” Transsexualism is not the same as, and should not beconfused with, transvestism, cross-dressing or sexual orientation. The term transsexual refersto a person whose identity is not congruent with biological birth markers, including chromo-somes, internal and external morphology, hormones and phenotype (Herald, 2005). Trans-sexuals have undergone treatments and surgical procedures that changed their morphology.Some authors prefer to use the term transpeople (Whittle et al., 2007). Transgender is thebroader term and includes those who temporarily change their gender and appearance, aswell as transsexual people.

The term “transgender” (Feinberg, 1996, 1998) came to be used in the 90s as a self-de-scription by transgenders who used a postmodern reframe of the medical model. Well knownexamples of trans-people are the Vestidas of Mexico and the U.S. Border Region, the Hijraof India, and the Kathoey of Thailand (Nanda, 2008).

Transgender is an umbrella term, used to include people whose lifestyles appear to conflictwith the gender norms of society. In the use of the broad term, a transgender person crossesthe conventional boundaries of gender; in clothing; in presenting themselves; even as far ashaving multiple surgical procedures to be fully bodily reassigned in their preferred genderrole. Whittle et al. (2007) have found that trans-people have complex gender identities, oftenmoving from one ‘trans’ category into another over time.

The term transgender is seldom used in Thailand. Instead, ‘kathoey’, a word originallyused to denote hermaphrodites (Jackson, 1998), is nowadays often used to describe thetransgender male. Kathoey is the commonly used term “that gathers male-to-female trans-gender people, as well as effeminate men, under its cover. Kathoey are biological men whohave been born with distinctly female hearts and minds.” (Aldous & Sereemomngkonpol2008: 11), and it includes effeminate mannerisms. Kathoey can be found in all walks of lifeand occupations throughout the country (CPAmedia, 2009), but are heavily represented inthe sex industry. Thailand’s first sex change surgery was performed in 1972 and the countrynow hosts more of these procedures per year than any other country in the world. Estimateson the current number of Thai transsexuals range from 10,000 to 300,000 (Winter, 2002),including a number of pop singers and television and movie stars. A transsexual beauty pa-geant, the Miss Tiffany’s Universe, is televised nationally each year. Since there is no officialrecord, there’s no telling how many gender change operations are performed every year. Butsurgery is easily available at a wide range of prices. In Bangkok, foreigners pay around$6,000 for the surgery, including breast augmentation and adam’s apple shaving.

The kathoey is prominent in Thai society, especially in urban centres, shopping, meetingfriends, going to the cinema, eating and drinking in cafes, using public transport, visitingthe temple, “without passers-by raising so much as an eyebrow” (Winter, 2002). They serveat cafés, market stalls, or boutiques. Some cosmetic firms purposely recruit kathoey assalespersons. Indeed, according to Noknoi & Wutthirong (2007) ‘most LGBT (lesbian, gay,bisexual, and transgendered) have emotional intelligence and special ability different fromordinary people’. For centuries, kathoey lived primarily in rural areas, but have more recentlymoved to find work in the more populous cities of Phuket, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and others(Totman, 2003). There are photographs of kathoey dancers in late 19th century Siam, andearly European visitors to Siam have observed the similarity in clothes and roles of men and

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women. Cross-dressing still is a regular feature of festivals in northern Thailand, and “furtherhighlights the association of gender plasticity, and the libertine absence of any machismo-like censorship of crossing male-female barriers within Animist traditions” (Totman 2003:93). Aldous & Sereemomngkonpol (2008: 257) tell the story of Auntie Nong, who was bornin 1934: “Kathoeys were a rougher looking lot in her day before the era of hormones andsurgery. Many were well educated and held day jobs as men, only venturing out as womanat night.”

In Thailand two species of kathoey co-exist: the traditional kathoey of rural Siam, especiallyin the north and north-east, and the modern day kathoey cabaret performer of the touristcities, especially in Bangkok and in Pattaya. The old, rural tradition still flourishes; kathoeybeauty contests are staged at fairs and carnivals like, for example, the Lamphun LamyaiFestival in August, or the Phuket Vegetarian Festival each September. Kathoeys also existin upper echelon roles as businesspersons, actresses, etc. (Aldous & Sereemongkonpol 2008;CPAmedia 2009). Aldous & Sereemongkonpol (2008), tell the life stories of Kiranant (Nicky)who became famous as Thailand’s first transgender air-hostess, Mimi the fashion columnist,Sarah a well know entrepreneur, and Nong Toom who became famous as “Beautiful Boxer”,the film released in 2003. In Thailand, kathoey have come under public and internationalscrutiny with their popularity as cabaret artists especially in the coastal and tourist townPattaya, in the late 1960s and 1970s. As a consequence of foreign tourism, kathoey cabaretshows and prostitution developed, and the picture of Thai kathoey differs from that of theirlow-profile counterparts in other Asian and south-east Asian countries.

The Thai kathoey are traditionally male born. They portray themselves as women andlive, in many ways, like them. Kathoey’s views on gender and what it means to be a womanare much like they are in the West (Winter & Udomsak, 2002). Some kathoey prefer to becalled phuying prahphet song (women of a second kind) (Winter, 2006, 2008). Mostkathoey present outwardly as entirely female – in terms of hair (often long), dress, cosmetics,manner, gait, gestures, voice, stereotyped personality traits (Winter and Udomsak, 2002)and interests (including vocational). When they speak they employ a female tone andvocabulary, employing word-forms normally restricted to females. According to Winter(2002), a very large number of them take hormones, sometimes from as early as 10 years ofage. Many of those who are able to afford cosmetic surgery do so. A rather smaller numberundergo sex reassignment surgery. In his study of 43 kathoey, Totman (2003) found thatonly three had undergone full sex reassignment surgery, twenty-one had breast implants andthirty-nine were or had been receiving hormone supplements. They do not hold official statusas women however, they are seen as phet thi-sam: the third sex (Totman, 2003). And theyare not necessarily fully accepted in all walks of Thai society, as we will see later.

Kathoey and BuddhismIn order to understand the prominence of kathoey in Thai society, one needs to look at thereligious and cultural context in Thailand. In Thailand, as in other South-East Asian societies,non-normative gender and sexual categories form part of the indigenous cultural tradition(ten Brummelhuis, 1999). The prevalent belief until the beginning of the last century wasthat there were three original sexes (Jackson, 1995); the third being the male-female. Thewestern Judea-Christian bipolar distinction male-female, man-woman, heterosexual-homo-sexual, should not be applied to a society where “the biological makeup of the individual,

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the gender of that individual and the sexual preferences of the individual must be treated asthree separate, albeit interrelated, areas” (Totman 2003:34). The concept of more than twogenders is encapsulated in the expression for kathoey as phet this sam, the ‘third sex’. Theview in Thailand is that maleness is defined not only in terms of what anatomy you have,but in terms of what you do with that anatomy. This is echoed in some Buddhist scriptures.For example, Jackson (1996;1998) notes that the Buddhist Vinaya text (a code of conductfor monks) identified four main sex/gender categories – males, females, ubhatobyanjanaka(hermaphrodites) and pandaka (‘inadequate’ males, i.e. those displaying a variety of othernon-normative anatomies or sexual preference). Jackson (1998) speculates that the termkathoey or its ancestor term predates the Buddhist writing, and that the secret texts servedto reinforce a concept that was already part of traditional Thai and Khmer culture. In theVinaya, cases are described of ordained monks changing gender and taking on the physicalattributes of women. Kathoey have traditionally been part of the entertainment at templefairs, and they have never been censored or persecuted by the monks.

Thailand is a Buddhist country: roughly 95% of Thai people are Buddhist. Unlike Chris-tians, Buddhists cannot point to specific religious laws or teachings forbidding homosexuality,transsexuals or gay marriage. One of the fundamental teachings of Buddhism is toleranceof those who act differently or hold different views. Although young kathoeys are sometimessubjected to teasing and bullying by other children, transgender people are integrated intoeveryday life and physical or verbal assault on transgender people in public is extremelyrare. Themes of gender blending arise from Buddhist teachings on transience and incarnation.Buddhism teaches that all things lack permanence, even to the extent that there is no soul(Rahula, 1967; Neumaier-Dargyay, 1997). What is reborn is not a soul as such, but ratherthe result of one’s lives, current and previous (Neumaier-Dargyay, 1997). From life to lifeone’s elements may be incarnated as male or female (Taywaditep et al. 1997), or kathoey(Bunmi, 1986). According to the idea of karma, we are all paying off debts accrued throughactions in past lives. Through karma or karmic consequences, a soul is born to the life of akathoey. Thai people are tolerant and/or kind to kathoey because there is a widespread beliefthat all souls will be kathoey at some point (Totman, 2003). Indeed, certain Buddhist writingssuggest that all of us have been kathoey in earlier lives. Although many Thais see transgen-derism as a non-normative pattern of behaviour which deviates from the ideal, they also seeit as quite natural. It is not generally seen as a disorder as it is in the West. The kathoey’scondition is often viewed as her fate; a karmic consequence (punishment in this life) for asexual misdemeanour in a previous life (Jackson, 1995; 1998; Bunmi, 1986). There is noescaping the karmic consequences of misdeeds and no avoidance of the suffering which theyload on the individual. Bunmi (1986:306) writes: “Changing one’s sex is not sinful. Con-sequently the intention to change one’s sex cannot have any ill kammic consequences. Butsexual misconduct is sinful and can lead to consequences in a subsequent birth”. Sexualmisconduct refers to heterosexual acts that break cultural mores and taboos in family life.Homosexual activities are karmically neutral. One of the most offensive insults in Thai isbeing called sia chat goet, a ‘wasted reincarnation’, and kathoeys have been known to beinsulted that way.

Many in Thai society see the role of a kathoey as one of suffering: they are pitied becauseit is believed they will not find true love and will be tormented by wanting and not beingable to have children (Totman, 2003). Around 50 percent (of non-transgender Thais) see

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them as males with mistaken minds, but the other half see them as either women born intothe wrong body (around 15 percent) or as a third sex/gender (35 percent).Kathoey often come to a realisation that they want to live life as a phuying prahphet

song, second kind of woman, very early in life. Many tell their families as preteens that theywish to become kathoey (Totman, 2003). The ages at which decisions are taken to be likegirls varies from age three to the mid teen, but “the great majority knew this is what theywanted to be by the time they had reached puberty” (Totman 2003:32). Nun Udomsak, aThai transgender researcher, relays her personal experience as beginning hormones, whichare available over-the-counter in Thailand, at 13 (Udomsak, 2002). Often, it is the goal of akathoey to earn enough money to complete sexual reassignment surgery (Totman, 2003).Nong Toom, the “Beautiful Boxer” enters the brutal world of Thai boxing in order to payfor a sex change operation to become a woman.

AttitudesKathoey believe society and their family members hold favorable attitudes towards them,and there is an overall relative acceptance of transgenders in contemporary Thai society.(Winter, 2006). In his study of one hundred and ninety-five transgendered females (i.e.,male-to-female transgenders (or MtF TGs)), with a mean age of 25.4 years, Winter examined,inter alia, their beliefs about (a) attitudes (of parents and society) towards them (and to MTFTGs, male to female transgender, in general), and (b) the origins of their own MtF TG status.He found that 40% of the kathoey said that their fathers were encouraging or accepting whenthey first made it known that they were kathoey, and 66% of their mothers. According tothe testimonials published by Aldous & Sereemomngkonpol (2008), first sons of Chinesefamilies seem to experience more resistance from their father, because of the traditional roleof the first son in Chinese society. Nevertheless, alienation from their family, frustration,lack of love and money are complaints that come back in testimonials.

When asked about the origins of their being transgender, participants (Winter, 2006) citedmultiple origins. Nearly 84% believed inborn biology had played a role. Friends and karmawere also commonly endorsed as explanatory factors (50% and 48.4% respectively). Parents,siblings, and other relatives were less commonly cited (30.3%, 24.1%, and 22.2%, respect-ively). According to Totman (2003), medical practitioners working in this area are of theopinion that a person is born a kathoey and that, at least in some cases, this may be the resultof events that occur in the womb.

In July 2008, Kampang Secondary School, situated in Thailand’s impoverished north-east, where most of the pupils are the children of farmers, introduces transsexual toilets,signposted with a half-man, half-woman figure in blue and red (Head, 2008): “Outside, infront of the mirrors, some decidedly girly-looking teenage boys preen their hair and applyface cream”. The head teacher, Sitisak Sumontha, estimates that in any year between 10%and 20% of his boys consider themselves to be transgender boys who would rather be girls.“They used to be teased every time they used the boys’ toilets,” he said, “so they startedusing the girls’ toilets instead. But that made the girls feel uncomfortable. It made these boysunhappy, and started to affect their work.” When asked whether these boys (13-15 yearsold) were not too young to be making decisions about their gender, he said that, in his 35years of working in the Thai education system, he had come across many boys like this, andthey never changed. Many go on as adults to have sex-change surgery, while others will live

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as gay men, he said. The pupils at the Kampang Secondary School have to wear boys’ uni-forms, but use feminine accessories.

Three years earlier, faced with the problem of which bathrooms transvestite studentsshould use, a college in the northern province of Chiang Mai designated a bathroom for ex-clusive use of the school’s 15 cross-dressing students. Dubbed the Pink Lotus Bathroom,the facility at the Chiang Mai Technology School featured four stalls, but no urinals. On thedoor was a sign with intertwined male and female symbols. The transvestites, who had towear male attire at school but were allowed to sport girlie hairdos, had annoyed female stu-dents when using the women’s bathrooms, and faced harassment in the men’s facilities (Ir-rawady News Magazine 2007). Similarly, Eckhardt (2009) mentions that a high school inthe Loei province has set up a separate bathroom for kathoey students, 200 out of an enrolmentof 1,200. Suttirat Simsiriwong, who became a campaigner for transgender rights after shewas barred entry to a nightclub at an international hotel in Bangkok in 2007, agrees that itis good for pupils at that age to have a specific place, “but when they graduate from schoolor university, they will know how to have medical treatment. They won’t want to go into atransgender toilet because they will want to be accepted as a woman - so they will go to thewomen’s toilet.” (Head 2008). Suttirat Simsiriwong, who became a campaigner for trans-gender rights after she was barred entry to a nightclub at an international hotel in Bangkokin 2007, agrees that it is good for pupils at that age to have a specific place, “but when theygraduate from school or university, they will know how to have medical treatment. Theywon’t want to go into a transgender toilet because they will want to be accepted as a woman- so they will go to the women’s toilet.” (Head 2008).

There is some concern about surgery on young boys though, as kathoey are perceived bysome younger boys as objects of fascination and even as role models. In April 2009, thePublic Health Ministry temporarily banned testicle-removal surgery at hospitals and clinicsnationwide following a call by Natee Teerarojjanapongs, the leader of the Gay PoliticalGroup of Thailand, to step up measures against such commercial castration for youngtranssexuals (Bangkok Post, 2008). Natee said that many parents of young boys keen to havetheir testes removed had complained about the influence of advertisements on the internetthat say the surgery is inexpensive and the result similar to a sex-change operation. Clinicshave responded to demand from teenage boys to look more like girls by posting internetadvertisements offering castration for as little as 4,000 baht ($125).The ministry will stepup measures to discourage clinics from castrating young boys, who believe it will make theircomplexion and body appear more feminine as a forerunner to a complete sex change laterin life. ‘‘Despite having their parents’ consent for the surgery, panel members still unanim-ously agreed that such an operation on young ladyboys could cause severe damage to theirhealth, both physically and mentally,’’ the minister said. In November 2009, the Thai gov-ernment tightened the sex change laws: anyone wanting to swap gender in Thailand mustlive as a woman for at least a year, take a course of female hormones, and obtain the approvalof two psychiatrists. Policing the ban might be difficult as cosmetic removal of the testiclesis such a quick operation and easy to conduct in secret: it takes only 15-20 minutes to havethe surgery. Some kathoey believe that children get the wrong idea from the media that somekids want to become kathoey because it’s cool, not because they are transgender. Pramoj naAyuttaya (2003) even speaks of kathoey as “a product” of the media.

According to Pramoj na Ayuttaya (2003), even though kathoeys may be intelligent, talented,and be good students, they are still held in lower regard than other students who do not care

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much about their study. Many kathoey students dress in women’s uniforms until theygraduate (sometimes with first-class honours degrees). But then they have to contend withthe societal pressure for conformity once they leave university.

Despite their high profile of trans-people in Thailand, it is important to note that acceptanceis not universal. Winter & Udomsak (2002) asked 216 Thai undergraduate students’ abouttheir attitudes and beliefs regarding phuying prahphet song, and found that a large numberof the participants appeared to subscribe to a pathologising model of gender identity variance(table 1. N=216)

Table 1: Undergraduate students’ mental pathologisation of gender identity variance

percentages agreeing with eachstatement

Phuying praphet song

51%are men with something wrong with their mind:13%are mentally disordered:28%need psychological help:31%have unstable personalities:14%have weak characters:

Based on Winter 2008

Tolerance is not the same thing as acceptance. The relativism of acceptance leaves room forquite a lot of prejudice, discrimination and intolerance. In 2002, Winter found that 17% ofphuying praphet song believed that Thai society rejected (was actively negative towards)people like them. Transsexuals complain that they are still stereotyped - they can find workeasily enough as entertainers, in the beauty industry, the media, or as prostitutes, but it ismuch harder for kathoeywith university degrees to obtain a respectable occupation, to becomea transgender lawyer or investment banker. Udomsak (2002) believes that Thai people as awhole do not want kathoey in jobs, like tour guides, visible to the outside because “they givean unfavorable image of Thailand.” Totman (2003) describes the government of Thailandas trying to downplay the role of kathoey in Thai life. In a sense, this is to promote a more“cosmopolitan,” and essentially westernised image. This may be even more so in business,as our case illustrates.

Legal statusIn Thailand, most people behave in an entirely warm and courteous manner when dealingwith transgender people in shops, cafes, in taxis, and so on. Indeed, this is generally the Thaiway with all persons (Winter, 2002). There have been cases of aggression and even murderof kathoey and homosexuals in Thailand, but they are exceptional. However, according toLikhitpreechakul (2009), “Thai-style “tolerance” only applies when you stay put in yourplace according to the cultural pecking order”. In his article in the Thai newspaper The Nation,he calls for the Thai government to sign the UN General Assembly statement calling fordecriminalisation of homosexuality worldwide, and to “reaffirm all constitutionally guaranteedhuman rights as the minimum common denominator across the country.” Even though societyseems tolerant, it is innately prejudiced. According to Noknoi and Wutthirong (2007) non-heterosexual behaviours are more disclosed now than in the past in Thailand. However,

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sexual orientation discrimination still persists in both public and private organisations andbusinesses depending on their environment and culture.

Problems arise mostly in formal situations; for example in schools and universities, andin interviews with potential employers. In all these situations the question of legal genderstatus assumes importance. The biggest complaint of kathoey is that they cannot change theirlegal status. Gender cannot be changed on any Thai legal document even after sexual reas-signment surgery. They cannot marry anyone of the other gender. There appears to be nolegislation that can protect them from discrimination. They find it hard to get jobs, and manyend up in the sex industry. Regardless of how long she has identified as a female, lived in afemale role, no matter how far she has gone to possess a female anatomy, how successfulshe is in ‘passing’ as a female in front of strangers, the Thai kathoey carries a male ID card(and travels with a male passport). When she opens a bank account, goes for a job, or anyof a number of other everyday activities, she is asked to show her ID card, and her status asa trans-person is communicated: she is ‘outed’ as ‘male’. The rights to privacy would bemuch better observed if, in keeping with practice in an increasing number of countries (in-cluding in Asia), she was able to carry documents that reflect how she self-identifies andpresents to others.

Thailand has acceded to two important treaties guaranteeing fundamental rights of theindividual (Winter, 2008). They are the International Covenant on Economic, Social andCultural Rights (ICESCR), and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights(ICCPR), which together seek to guarantee a very wide range of rights, including for theless privileged and those in minority groups. Article 2 in each treaty makes all of this explicit,claiming that the rights listed should extend to all in a society ‘without distinction of anykind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or socialorigin, property, birth or any other status’ The ‘any other status’ provision is key here. Inthe view of many working in the field of human rights, ‘any other status’ clearly includessexuality and gender identity. The most relevant for Thai phuying praphet song may be(a) the right to work (ICESCR Article 6), (b) the right to marry and to found a family (ICCPRArt.23, para.2); (c) the right to privacy (Art.17, para.1); and ( d ) the right to freedom of ex-pression (ICCPR Art.19, para.3). Winter believes that it is these rights that are violated ona daily basis, even in ‘tolerant’ Thailand. Because of their karma, they are a group to bepitied, not protected. As Likhitpreechakul (2009) states in his article in the daily The Nation:“Despite the Buddha’s core teaching of compassion, many Thai “Buddhists” believe thathomosexuals and transgenders deserve low social status in the present because they sup-posedly committed sins –specifically adultery- in their past lives.”

There have been some positive developments (Armbrecht, 2008). In 2002, the Departmentof Mental Health, under intense pressure from the gay community, removed homosexualityfrom its list of mental disorders. This decision helped pave the way for the Thai military toannounce in 2005 that it would discontinue its practice of dismissing transsexual and gayrecruits for having ‘a severe mental disorder,’ and the subsequent announcement in March2008 that the military would be adding a ‘third category’ for transsexuals. This third categorywould allow transsexuals to be dismissed from service due to ‘an illness that cannot be curedin thirty days’, thereby removing the scarlet letter of ‘mental disorder’ from their servicerecords – records that must be provided at each job interview and with each loan application.The front page of the Bangkok Post of 2 April 2009 showed a picture of Kornpat Lertratana-porn, winner of the Tiffany contest in 2005. She is sitting on the floor amidst several young

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bare-chested young men, waiting for the army conscription, fully dressed. The caption reads:“Kornpat was excluded from conscription after a doctor concluded (s)he had a disfiguredchest.” The action group Si Chompoo has recently been formed to work towards social andlegal changes. 2007 saw the legislature expand the legal definition of rape from a man whoforcibly has sex with someone to whom he is not legally married, to include forcible sexperpetrated by either sex against either sex. Before this change, a man who raped a transsexualcould only be charged (if he was indeed even charged) with sexual molestation, a crimeresulting in a fine. Offenders under the new law face the prospect of four to twenty years injail. Article 30 of the new constitution prohibits discrimination on the grounds of differencesin origin, race, language, sex, age, disability, physical or health condition, religious belief,education or constitutionally political view. There is no reference in the constitution to dis-crimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity to ensure equality and non-dis-crimination for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people).

The process of drafting a new constitution in 2007 gave an unusual opening for civil societyorganisations to make proposals. Certain individuals and NGOs worked with the HumanRights Commission, which held a one day national seminar on sexual diversity issues andsubmitted a set of recommendations for constitutional language to the drafting committee.On June 11, 2007, the drafting committee debated the issue, a debate broadcast live on localtelevision. While new language was not included in the draft, the lobbying and the debaterepresented a new event in Thai political life on sexual diversity issues. It represented thesurfacing in Thailand, at the level of the constitution, of particular human rights issues nowactively debated in various parts of the world. Despite a proposal during the drafting of thenew constitution, to allow changing the gender on identity cards, this has not been approved.A proposal to add the term ‘sexual diversities’ to the list of groups covered under theequality clause (Section 30) of the draft constitution was debated, but ultimately voted downby a 54 to 23 margin. A well-known transsexual advocate believes that semantics played arole in the defeat of the proposal (Armbrecht, 2008). Speaking to the International Gay andLesbian Human Rights Commission, she said that the fact that there are no neutral words inthe official Thai language was used by some Assembly members to sideline the importanceof extending the equality and protection against discrimination for LGBT (Lesbian, Gay,Bi-sexual and Transsexual) people. The LGBT community and academics have been tryingto develop new terms regarding sexual orientation and the Thai word meaning ‘sexual di-versities’ may have been confusing to some Assembly members.

ConclusionThe case illustrates disrespect of Thai and European anti-discrimination laws, and the limit-ations for the kathoey to appeal the decision. On the other hand, even if this is an isolatedcase, its impact on Thai managers may be more important than one would expect in acountry heavily dependent on foreign investment, especially in a time of economic downturn.Indeed, the case re-enforces the idea that in order to be ‘modern’ in a globalised world, Thaisubsidiaries should listen to and adapt to foreign headquarters’ demands. In this case, theinfluence of the European company may be to export ‘worst practices’ that will not helpsexually discriminated people in Thailand, and may even push the thinking and behaviourin Thailand away from the relative acceptance of sexual orientation diversity. Noknoi andWutthirong (2007) stress that it is important that organisations and businesses show concern

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for the LGBT people in acknowledging sex discrimination and accepting sexual orientationdiversity: ‘They can prevent this kind of discrimination among employees by aligning humanresource strategies in both short and long terms of organizational strategy in order to makea sustainable competitive advantage’.

As in other animist cultures in different parts of the world, transgender people have tradi-tionally been part of society in Thailand. Of course, cross-dressing has existed in Europe aswell, as the example of Joan of Arc shows (Feinberg 1998), and transgenderism may be nomore endemic to Thai culture than to other cultures. It is just more openly part of society inThailand. The modern kathoey in Thailand, mainly entertainers of tourists, may be seen asa modern product of the combination of poverty, the obligation to support one’s family andopportunism. The bigger issue is their legal status which leads to discrimination in theworkplace especially, an issue which may be influenced by the authority’s effort to presentthe country as ‘modern’, ‘westernised’. As attitudes in the Western world move to greaterunderstanding and tolerance of sexual diversity, attitudes of the Thai authorities seem to begoing in the opposite direction. This may be due to the ‘modern’ image Thai authorities wantto project, but also to the influence that Western organizations may not be aware of exercising,as our case illustrates.

Literature on international human resource management, in particular western handbooksthat are widely used in South-East Asia, mostly describe the advantages of western humanresource practices, and how these could be applied successfully worldwide. References maybe made to ‘worst practices’ such as exploitation of workers as far as wages and workingconditions are concerned, but the issue of introducing involuntary discrimination may needto be researched further. The dilemma sometimes posed to western organizations in managingtheir values and their image in international contexts, as well as the responsibilities they mayhave in doing this, is a question that begs for attention.

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About the AuthorDr. Marie-Therese ClaesProfessor at ICHEC Brussels Business School, and at the University of Louvain in Belgium.She was Dean of the Faculty of Business at Asian University in Thailand for 2 years. Sheis a guest professor in universities in Europe, in Asia and in the United States of America.Her fields of teaching and research include Intercultural Communication and InterculturalManagement. She is past president of EWMD (European Women Management Development)and of SIETAR Europa (Society for Intercultural Education, Training and Research). Sheis also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a Fulbright and a Japan Foundation alumna.

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EDITORS

Mary Kalantzis, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA. Paul James, Globalism Institute, RMIT University, Australia EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Ien Ang, University of Western Sydney, Sydney, Australia. Joanna van Antwerpen, Research and Statistics, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Samuel Aroni, University of California, Los Angeles, USA. Susan Bridges, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. Duane Champagne, University of California, Los Angeles, USA. Guosheng Y. Chen, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. Jock Collins, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia. Bill Cope, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA. Heather Marion D’Cruz, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia. James Early, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., USA. Denise Egéa-Kuehne, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, USA. Amareswar Galla, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. Grethe van Geffen, Seba Cultuurmanagement, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Barry Gills, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. Jackie Huggins, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. Andrew Jakubowicz, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia. Paul James, Globalism Institute, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. Ha Jingxiong, Central University of Nationalities, Beijing, China. Mary Kalantzis, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA. Jack Levin, Northeastern University, Boston, USA. Cristina Poyatos Matas, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia. Peter McLaren, University of California, Los Angeles, USA. Joe Melcher, Xavier University of Louisiana, New Orleans, USA. Greg Meyjes, Solidaris Intercultural Services, Falls Church, USA. Walter Mignolo, Duke University, Durham, USA. Brendan O’Leary, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA. Aihwa Ong, University of California, Berkeley, USA. Peter Phipps, Globalism Institute, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. Ronald Prins, Bos en Lommer Neighbourhood Council, Amsterdam-West, The Netherlands. Peter Sellars, University of California, Los Angeles, USA. Michael Shapiro, University of Hawai’i, Manoa, USA. David S. Silverman, Kansas Wesleyan University, Salina, USA. Martijn F.E. Stegge, Diversity Platform, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Geoff Stokes, Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia. Terry Threadgold, Cardiff University, Wales, UK. Mililani Trask, Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues for the Economic Council of the UN Assembly, Hawai’i, USA. Marij Urlings, Inholland University, Amsterdam-Diemen, The Netherlands. Rob Walker, Keele University, Keele, UK. Ning Wang, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. Owens Wiwa, African Environmental and Human Development Agency, Toronto, Canada.

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