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Transsexual flight attendants (from L to R): Nathatai Sukkaset, 26, Dissanai Chitpraphachin, 24, Chayathisa Nakmai, 24, and Phuntakarn Sringern, 24

An instructor applies make-up foundation on the face a transsexual flight attendant Dissanai Chitpraphachin, 24, during a make-up training session at PC Air office in Bangkok February 2011

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A new Thai airline is hiring trans-sexual ladyboys as flight attendants, aiming at a unique identity to set itself apart from competitors as it sets out for the skies.

Known as "katoeys" or "ladyboys", transgenders and transsexuals have greater visibility in Thailand than in many other nations, holding mainstream jobs in a variety of fields. They are especially common in cosmetics shops or health stores, which almost always have a ladyboy shop assistant.

PC Air, a charter airline set to start operations on Asian routes in April, originally planned only to hire male and female flight attendants. But it changed its mind after receiving more than 100 job applications from transvestites and transsexuals.

Four were chosen, along with 19 female and 7 male flight attendants.

"When I knew that I got this job, I burst into tears because I'm very happy," said 24-year-old Chayathisa Nakmai.

"I had sent many applications to different airlines."

The airline said that the qualifications for the ladyboy flight attendants were the same as for female flight attendants, with the additional provisos that they be like women in how they walk and talk, and have a feminine voice and the right attitude.

Though there is very little discrimination against ladyboys in Thailand, they are not officially recognized as women and their identification cards will always say "male".

While the airline strives for equality, PC Air president Peter Chan, who chooses the transsexual cabin crew himself, said he needed to spend longer with interviews for such applicants.

"For male flight attendants, if I don't want to hire them, it's because of their attitude or their characters, like the way they walk and smile. For female flight attendants, if they have no patience and their character does not qualify, we won't hire them," he added.

"For transsexuals, we can't just spend 5 or 10 minutes with them, we have to spend the whole day with them to make sure they have feminine characters."

The airline says it may hire more flight attendants from the "third gender" in the future since the Department of Civil Aviation has no objections.

Though excited by the opportunity, the transsexual flight attendants said they were aware they needed to prove themselves.

"People will keep their eyes on us... There will be more pressure," said Dissanai Chitpraphachin, 23, who was crowned as Thailand's most beautiful transvestite in 2007.

"We have to prepare ourselves more than the women."

The airline is initially set to fly to South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and China.

Comments

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Sat May 25 17:49:08 SAST 2013 ::

Feb 10, 2011

CheeseBoy

OMG!! is that person in that picture a man turned woman?????????????

guys watch out, check your womans' kuku and make sure there is no tempering there ( surgical scars showing the kuku was stitched on). You will find she was born a man. yuk!!!!

what is this world coming to?? sick indeed
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Feb 10, 2011

teneriffe

Are "ladyboys same as "gays"? Ooh...yoh modimo wa ka!

***"For transsexuals, we can't just spend 5 or 10 minutes with them, we have to spend the whole day with them to make sure they have feminine characters***>>> WHY CANT U HIRE GALS AND SAVE MONEY AND TIME TRANSFORMING THIS MOEGOES INTO GALS? Arghhh man mxm


third gender se foot!
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Feb 10, 2011

matzzzzzzzzzz

what a joke..........i dnt blieve dat pple dnt really like wat they r .....mxm!!
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Feb 10, 2011

Sharpino

Agaa this world become boring now.
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Feb 10, 2011

sabc

Beautiful
How free,proud and happy they look...
Makes me kind of envious how free they seem
One thing about Thais.They set them up for success instead of demonising them.
How civilised.
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Feb 10, 2011

Sagacious

@Cheeseboy
A stitch on kuku

I wonder how it test like may be it has more feeling stimulance, but come to thing of the hard tighs and strong arms eish not ayoba at all.


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Feb 10, 2011

Julz

A ladyboy in Thailand is a man who still has his genitals but often has had surgery to get female breasts.
They are completely accepted by the community.
Buddhism teaches tolerance and in Thailand people are very open-minded as a result
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Feb 10, 2011

leShandis

- Sodom & Gomorah!
- man r in trouble big time, now our eyes need to be sharper than eva...
- c, all this eating of frogs, dogs, cats, snakes etc etc, has messed up da brains of these ppl, especial frog or amphibian as a whole (nt sure if i remember correctly, amphibians hs da ability to be transexual or self produce) i stand to be corrected on this one...
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Feb 10, 2011

edi

Aaagggaa man sis phuuuu..transexuals my backside man
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Feb 10, 2011

CheeseBoy

@Sagacious

its not safe to just feel a chick @ clubs any more with your hands to make sure she doesn't have iPipi. one needs to take closer look. and worse is that these guys in the pics looks prettier then most girls i know

imagine morning after you feeling up a stitched up kuku. tjo!!!
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