Older transgender women in Thailand: views of service providers

Abstract

The social and cultural construction of aging and how it is experienced by transgender women in Thailand has been neglected within the academic literature. This qualitative study explored how Thai lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) service providers construct aging transgender women. Fourteen semi-structured in-depth interviews and one focus group were conducted in Thailand between 2016 and 2017 with LGBTI staff members whose roles ranged from volunteer to senior management. This research was a part of a larger doctoral research project. In considering both gender identity and older age, a clearer understanding is established on how notions of “older” for transgender women are constructed by service providers. Thematic analysis was undertaken, which established that there is a lack of heterogeneity and shared understanding of the concepts of “age” and “older transgender women.” This key finding was compounded by the invisibility of older transgender women in the Thai landscape, which limited the extent to which older transgender women have been included in targeted service provision. Older transgender women lack agency and voice and have failed to be involved in the shaping of services that meet their needs.

Keywords:

• transgender
• aging
• Thailand
• service providers

Notes

Notes

1 The Global North refers to “… the wealthiest industrialised countries with strong state institutions… such as Western European countries, the US, Australia and Japan” (Ritzer & Dean, 2014, p. 360). Mitlin and Satterthwaite, (2013, p. 13) refer to the Global South as including “… all nations classified by the World Bank as low- and middle-income countries that are in Africa, Asia, Latin-America and the Caribbean.”

2 The data were provided by the Rainbow Sky Association of Thailand (RSAT) to the researcher in Thai, and were explained in English by the Deputy Secretary-General. These data are not available to the public.

3 Including venues such as karaoke establishments, performance venues, beer and other bars, massage parlours that are registered consistently with the Entertainment Place Act 1966. The entertainment field is one of the limited areas in which transgender women may be employed (Berry, Escobar, and Pitorak, 2012).

4 Participants reflected that the term “kathoey” has historically referred to intersex people. Attempts by Thai transgender organisations have been made to reclaim the indigenous Thai term so that it may be used by transgender women to describe their identities. This term is contentious and highly nuanced, as it can also have negative connotations.