Being Gay is Accepted in Thailand
Being Gay in Thailand
There’s little stigma against being Gay
There is no stigma in being gay in Thailand. It is not illegal and is generally accepted. A person’s sexuality is his own affair. Thais will gossip but they don’t concern themselves with anything that is none of their business.
Families do not ostracise a son from being gay and the boyfriend would be welcome in the parents’ home. They may prefer their son to be heterosexual and produce an heir but they are quite relaxed about allowing him freedom to conduct his life the way he wants.
Many foreigners are gay and live with their partners quite openly. They value Thailand’s open and flexible attitude.
A lady-boy, a katoey, would not be ostracised in any way. Many work in restaurants as serving staff. They would use the word ka, the word used by females, and not krap.
The tell-tale sign of a katoey is the more pronounced presence of an Adam’s apple (laryngeal prominence.) But even that is not easy to spot. Tourists, and even expats, can be misled by these very attractively dressed and made up lady-boys. There are posters on the Thai forums who comment that they’ve only found out their mistake when they’ve taken their “girlfriend” to bed!
(A caution here. Take some of what you read on Thai forums with a pinch of salt. There are some extremely useful comments. There are also some trollish responses.)
Lesbians are noticeable by their cropped hairstyles and male mannerisms. They generally still use ka and not krap though.
No one really cares about sexual orientation in Thailand.
