Terminology and meaning

Understanding the language: what kathoey means and its range, the 'third gender' framing and its limits, transgender vs the term visitors use, and how to speak respectfully.

The words, and their weight

• Kathoey (กะเทย): the long-standing Thai term historically covering a range of gender-variant identities assigned male at birth — from transgender women to effeminate gay men, though today it most often refers to trans women. Its connotations in Thai range from neutral to loaded depending on context and speaker;
• The English term visitors use ("ladyboy") is what most foreigners search — which is why it names this domain — but many in the community find it reductive or objectifying. When speaking about or to people, the respectful default is their own terms;
• "Third gender": a common shorthand for Thailand's cultural space beyond the male/female binary — useful as a pointer, but a simplification of a spectrum that includes trans women, trans men, and many identities;
• Sao praphet song ("second kind of woman") is a gentler Thai term some prefer; phu ying kham phet denotes transgender women more formally.

Speaking respectfully

• Follow the person's lead on the words and pronouns they use for themselves — the universal rule of decency;
• Trans women are women; a visible, accepted transgender culture doesn't make anyone a curiosity;
• Avoid the objectifying register the internet trained into this topic — this site's whole purpose is to replace it with the real one (the history shows why the real one is richer).