id: 516705 - Text: did you bot watch the interview??? like they went to school and everything shut up, this simply pays more than everything else. sex sells.
id: 516718 - Text: I believe the reason why they love their work is because they are males at birth with a high sexual drive they genuinely enjoy themselves..females at birth on the other hand end up depressed and suicidal working in that industry it’s tough for them because their sexual needs aren’t that much of a priority in their lives
id: 516726 - Text: All you men will still have sex with those things
id: 516763 - Text: Why do you have them in their bra & panties? I understand that they’re sex workers, but they’re also human beings. & people are just viewing this for free too smh
id: 516773 - Text: 6:27 I hate the awkward pauses mark keeps doing it’s making it so beyond awkward "d0 y0u havE SEx?" Like what else u think they do mark 😂
id: 516822 - Text: Unfortunately, Mark, you are portraying a very narrow segment of the ladyboy culture in Thailand. I lived in Thailand for 17 years and in 2004, ladyboys were just becoming a thing. Over the years, Nana Plaza expanded and the ladyboy generation exploded. Trans surgery is extremely cheap in Thailand and working just a couple of months can provide enough salary to cover basic surgeries since they keep their male genitalia. You glamorize these “ladies” but in reality, after 30-35 years old, their bodies look cartoonish and finding work, basically as prostitutes becomes extremely difficult. They give very little long term thought to aging and find themselves unemployable by mid 30’s. Like all prostitutes, there’s always younger and better surgically enhanced ladyboys preferred by bar patrons.
I personally had to go to lady girl bars because my law firm had many clients from Japan and they loved to go get drunk and pay lady bar girls for sex. However, like me, my clients avoided ladyboy clubs like the plague. They can be extremely obnoxious when trying to force you into the clubs and I only visited Nana Plaza 3-4 times before I decided never again.
Walk up and down Sukhumvit Road late at night pre Covid and you’ll get every ladyboy within sight saying “Hey American boy …!” or other clichés and tugging at your arm literally demanding you buy them a drink. I haven’t watched any other ladyboy interviews you have done since this one came up unexpectedly but the idea that drugs and alcohol are not a problem in this industry is ludicrous. They work at bars! Clients from Europe that I know often have drugs, cocaine, ecstasy, and many ladyboys I know use the cheap stimulant, YaBa (crazy medicine, in Thai), to stay up long hours, endure multiple sessions of sex per night and general fun. Clients usually insist on buying large numbers of drinks for the bar workers and they can’t really refuse and insist on “lady drinks”.
Moreover, if you dig deeper into the ownership of the majority of the clubs you would be shocked. More than 10-15 of the main clubs between Nana and Soi Cowboy are owned by 2 Muslim guys who’s whole religion frowns upon homosexuality/ladyboys, drinking, and prostitution, yet in Thailand, you’ll find Islamic guys violating all the rules of their religion. Another 5-10 clubs are actually owned by the Thai Royal Police and they launder drug money, prostitution money and other illicit corrupt practices through these clubs. Many of the bar girls and ladyboys must work 6 days per week and some are forced to sleep in the upstairs areas of some clubs overnight.
How do I know this happens? I worked for the last 2 democratically elected Prime Ministers and consulted for the Thai Police/DSI and Military. I worked as a consultant in Thai Parliament and other government agencies.
Those ladyboys prefer European guys (I’m American and have zero interest in ladyboys and despite society in Thailand being more accepting, many still find many quite annoying..), is that European guys are more curious and sexually interested in this underground world of ladyboy sexual prostitution. Keep in mind, the clubs control these sex workers and they are exploited and abused a few times per week. I have hundreds of Thai friends who work in these clubs and have heard the horror stories these ladyboys are not revealing to you.
I left Thailand in July 2021, since the economy was dead and I was bored with 40C days and oppressive humidity 11 months per year but still have 2 houses in Thailand and go back from time to time.
For now, I’m more content in the beautiful women of South America and the lack of ladyboys here.
I usually enjoy every video you make, Mark, but you’re getting just a small, biased, view of this sub culture that is being told to you by Thai ladyboys and Thai people rarely criticize their society or lifestyles to foreigners (farang).
id: 516829 - Text: Because they are sexworkers.
id: 516844 - Text: @exnihilo415 Ah, I wasn’t aware that he was on vacation 🥹. Seems rather strange to visit Thailand during the summer and just before the rainy season.
Wow, you accomplished quite a lot with US Immigration as I would have thought that getting a Green Card for a ladyboy (or, is she a complete trans woman?), would have been nearly impossible at best. Congrats on that feat and I’m glad you two are happy in California.
I was also surprised by the no translator but perhaps he desired more control over the questions and answer process. One thing I’ll give Mark credit for is he deals with a broad range of controversial issues and he’s clearly empathetic and non-judgmental.
However, most of the ladyboys I’ve known personally over the last 17+ years are not that happy even in the rather accepting (or should I say “tolerating”) Thai society and still deal with a large amount of job discrimination outside of the bar girl, niche beauty segments, or other rather limited industries. Their career opportunities are severely impacted if they don’t find a foreign benefactor or spouse/partner. I’m glad you’re both doing well and hopefully Mark reads comments and goes back to do a true in-depth coverage with a broader spectrum of ladyboys and the sex bar industry in Bangkok.
id: 516847 - Text: @greganderson7065 Dealing with USCIS (US immigration) was certainly very expensive and time consuming and we faced a fair amount of transphobia in those hallways. That said, we had an attorney there at every step of the way and eventually made it through. She's a US citizen now and her blue passport says Female. I fully agree with you that tolerating is a better word than accepting for the status of LGBT people in Thai society. The black hole of LGBT law in Thailand is an enormous problem. I can't legally marry my wife in Thailand, nor can she change her legal gender, nor could we adopt, et al. Few westerners if that was their own personal situation would call their country accepting. As you know Thailand's democracy is in a pretty sorry state and getting anything meaningful done legislatively is neigh impossible. That said there are many amazing Thai LGBT activists doing their level best to make needed reforms. Know hope! I too hope that Mark goes back to Thailand and takes the assignment more seriously and gets a translator and interviews some people in Khlong Toei, some addicts and some LGBT people that are not connected with sex work to give people a more rounded picture of the actual underbelly.
id: 516868 - Text: Extreme poverty always produces sex industries. I don't believe for one min they were real trans with body dysmorphia.. these were gay men that understood that they could change their entire family's lives. It's really difficult when there is not a lot of opportunity and extreme poverty. I also believe when people live in these situations everyone is focused on survival. Often in other countries with high poverty just to eat they will sell their own children's body's