Sex change surgery brings new life

Chermarn Saengprasit and Phruts Phungsai, members of elephant polo team the Screwless Tuskers of Bangkok, stole the show when making a debut in the King's Cup 2003 tournament in Hua Hin.

It was not their prowess that awarded them a place in a game usually played by men. They entered the tournament as women, although they had been men previously.

The Screwless Tuskers boss told AP he brought in the two and two other "ladyboys" to bring something "extremely exotic" to this year's tour.

Bangkok and Thailand in general, has been widely regarded as the most favorite place for men who want to change their gender status.

There is no official data on how many people, either Thais or foreigners, who have undergone sex readjustment surgery (SRS), commonly from male to female.

Surapong Ambhangwong, the advisory board president of Thai Private Hospital Association, admitted there was "an increase in the number of sex change surgery".

No figure has been made public as hospitals are bound to respect the privacy of people who undergo SRS, the same way a doctor keeps a patient's medical record from the public, he said.

SRS is performed in 20 big hospitals and clinics in Bangkok, Phuket and Chiang Mai, with a package costing US$26,500, excluding post-surgery treatment and other operations to achieve a perfect woman's shape, such as augmentation mammoplasty and shaving of the Adam's apple.

Patients are also offered non-medical services, which include hotel and pick-up to and from the airport during their stay in Thailand, approximately for two weeks.

Anurak Tansiriroj, the managing director of Phuket International Hospital, said patients mostly come from Japan, Hong Kong and Europe.

"Foreigners prefer Thailand due to the cheap price it offers compared with hospitals in the United States or Europe without having to compromise the quality," Anurak said.

The hospital he manages has a special team who perform sex change surgery twice or thrice a week, all based on reservations. "For the coming year we no longer accept patients... fully booked," he said.

Before performing an operation, noted surgeon Kamol Pansritum, who runs a gender reassignment surgery center in Bangkok, requires a patient to be recommended and endorsed in writing by two clinical behavioral scientists, one of them must be at the doctoral level, and one of the two must have known the patient in a professional psychotherapeutic relationship for six months. The patient must also have been living successfully in the genetically other sex role for at least one year.

"Because surgery is not the treatment of transsexualism the best treatment available is a rehabilitation program that includes surgery. Surgery is more successful with a patient already enjoying success in the chosen sex and gender role." Kamol, who has since 1997 performed over 2,000 cases of all surgery on transsexuals and over 350 cases of SRS, said on his website.

Surgeons will interview patients to see whether they are good candidates for SRS and to evaluate their fitness for surgery.

The patients are expected to engage in normal sex activities under her new gender status after the eighth week post operation, including intercourse.

Female hormones will be needed in two months after surgery but the need of the hormones is less than before surgery.

Legal name change and birth certificate amendments are accomplished according to the laws of the patients' state or country of origin after the surgery is accomplished.

Anurak said sex change surgery had sparked long-standing controversy as it was deemed in violation of morality and Thai traditions.

"But we are talking about healing people who are sick. The surgery is part of the therapy to cure them," Anurak said.

He said the Thailand government imposed strict regulations on people who want to change their gender, including a psychological test prior, to obtain a scientific ground for the surgery.

The Thailand government does not allow a sex change operation for purposes other than health reasons.

Robin, a 42-year-old American, said she was very happy with her new status as a woman.

"My partner and I have been together for 26 years, married for 23 years and closer now more than ever," she said. She was operated by Pichet Rodchareon in August this year.

Robin said she enjoyed her new life after the surgery, and her implanted sex organ worked so well that she "experienced sex with a man and enjoyed it immensely."

Once a man, Marilyn of South Africa, said she also ended up with SRS surgery at Pichet's clinic in Bangkok as she always felt she was a woman in mind.

"But I did not always allow myself to explore the woman inside me. For 30 years I was trying to run away from me," she recalled in her testimonial to Pichet. -- Dwi Atmanta