Thursday 27 March 2008

In the name of progress (2, final)

Thai Rath newspaper carried a lengthy story about Natee's plea to the Medical Council on page 1 today. Kom Chad Leuk newspaper, another Thai-language daily, spoke to teens who have had the operation done.

'Bird', 19, said he knew youngsters aged 12 to 16 who had expressed an interest in getting their testicles removed, as they believed they would end up with tapering arms and legs like a woman. They saw it as a much cheaper alternative to gender re-assignment surgery, which most could not afford.

'Word is spreading among kathoey who enter beauty pageants in the North. They believe that if they get their testicles removed, then take female hormones on top of that, they will end up looking beautiful,' he said.

The newspaper also spoke to kathoey 'Sukat', 15, who like Bird had undergone the procedure. He went to a clinic close to home and told the surgeon that he wanted his testicles removed. The surgeon consented, without asking about his medical history, or making any inquiries about his psychological state. He simply made an appointment with him to come back and get the procedure done.

Sukat's testicles were removed a little over a year ago.

He describes in graphic detail what happened. The surgeon gave him an injection in his arm to make him drowsy. Then he inserted a knife about 15cm deep in the gap between his testicles, and removed them. The surgeon told him to rest for three hours, after which he was free to return home.

Thai psychologist Wallop Piyamanotham said that in the absence of legal penalties, doctors could perform gender re-assignment surgery or castration without having to check on a patent's psychological condition first.

Unscrupulous surgeons were exploiting loopholes in the law to make money. They started on patients early, by removing their testicles, then invited them back later to perform full gender re-assignment surgery. The two should be performed together, if they are performed at all, but patients were seldom told.

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