Buddhism, gender, and sexualities: queer spiritualities in Thailand

• Date: 19 May 2023
• Pages: 685-705
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-01-2020-0025
• Published date: 19 May 2023
• Author: Witchayanee Ocha

Buddhism, gender, and sexualities:

queer spiritualities in Thailand

Witchayanee Ocha

Diplomacy and International Studies, Rangsit University,

Pathumthani, Thailand

Abstract

Purpose –The article aims to present a new aspect of “the emergentidentities”in Thailandwith a correlation

betweenmoralityand religiosity.The researchdeals withthe perceptionof 65 Thai male-to-femaletransgendersex

workerswho are currentlyworking in sex tourismin Pattaya andBangkok. This articleexplores the rolereligion

plays, the linkages between sexualities, and the potential for Thai Theravada Buddhist individuals to understand

theway that they copewith life and interpretits meaningamong these sexualminorities.Finally, thearticle shows

how Thai marginalized Theravada Buddhists are negotiating their gendered religious spaces in Thailand.

Design/methodology/approach –The study investigates perceptions of religion and its role in the lives of

Thai Buddhist male-to-female transgender sex workers. Almost all the qualitative data was collected

sequentially through (1) focus group discussions, (2) small group discussions, and (3) in-depth interviews. All

interview sessions took place over six months in 2019. The researcher is a native Thai speaker and conducted

the interviews in Thai with selected sex workers over 20 years old who have at least one year of experience

engaging in sex work.

Findings –The research found three principal characteristics of “lived religion”in which emergent identities

negotiate sexuality and morality: (1) Buddhist dequeering (the way Buddhism operates conservatively to

reinforce heteronormativity), (2) queering Buddhism amidst multiple oppressions (how Buddhism operates to

complement queer identity and empowerment), and (3) queering Buddhism as enlightenment (Buddhism with

an emphasis on “practice”and “spiritual development”). The paper discusses how institutional Buddhism

creates and recreates gendered identities in complex ways.

Research limitations/implications –The article shows how Thai marginalized Theravada-Buddhism are

negotiating their gendered religious spaces and “buy”the right to sexual and anatomy within their families and

society by providing financial support, engaging in religion practices, donating in social charity projects base

on their faith and capacity.

Practical implications –The paper is supporting human right movements and dignity for sexual minorities

gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender questioning, intersex (LGBTQIþ) in Thailand. The paper also promotes

equality to all human beings and shows a struggle for the basic human rights of sexual minorities in religion.

The paper is raising awareness to religion’s rights for all to look beyond distinctions of gender and class which

may help to shape future history.

Social implications –This article examines how Thai transgender sex workers utilize the non-essentialist

philosophy of Theravada Buddhism. The paper finds that respondents are negotiating their religious spaces

through the linkages among their gender, body, embodiment, identities, and sexualities. Despite most

respondents believe that being born “a kathoey”as a result of bad karma, they use the Buddhist teachings of

karma to explain their identities and even to lead a meaningful life to gain more merits for a better rebirth.

Originality/value –Thailand still lacks research on queer spiritualities and Buddhism. The article has seen

challenges to the human rights of sexual minorities in religion. The solution is to increase awareness of the

concepts of sex, gender, and sexualities and broaden the understanding of “endless performativity”and

“gender diversification”(Butler, 1990) for gender sensitivity and gender responsiveness in creating “social

equality”for all member societies in public campaigns, and media launched by the state and NGOs.

Keywords Buddhism, Gender, Sexualities, Transgender sex workers, Thailand

Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction

“Thailand has a rich indigenous history of complex patterns of sexuality and gender, with an

intermediate category, the kathoey (the third gender), historically being available to both

Buddhism,

gender,

and sexualities

685

This research paper is a part of the research project “A Development Agenda for Sexual Minorities:

The Case Studies of Thailand and Singapore”. The author declares that there is no conflict of interest.

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

https://www.emerald.com/insight/2040-7149.htm

Received 30 January 2020

Revised 21 October 2020

8 September 2021

29 April 2023

Accepted 30 April 2023

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:

An International Journal

Vol. 42 No. 5, 2023

pp. 685-705

© Emerald Publishing Limited

2040-7149

DOI 10.1108/EDI-01-2020-0025

males and females and existing alongside normative masculine and feminine identities”

(Jackson and Sullivan, 1999, p. 3). The third gender (phet-thi-sam), kathoey, remains

indigenous and continues to circulate as informal knowledge within Thai academia. The Thai

concept of gender is based on three gender categories that allow for little distinction among

sex, gender, and sexuality. Kathoey is used to describe a “third gender”with no specifics of

sexual subcultures attached to it. Arunrat et al. (2010) note that 2.1% of the Northern Thai

male youth whom they studied considered themselves kathoey. If this proportion is applied to

the Thai population of 69,799,978 people in 2020 (Worldometer, 2020), there would be roughly

1,465,800 kathoeys in Thailand. While the true number of kathoey is unknown, this estimate

alone puts the incidence well above that of any Western country (Winter, 2004). Cultural

norms influence these figures: “The fluidity of gender identities in Thailand is arguably made

possible by the tolerance, or forbearance, of variant sexualities, in a worldview historically

shaped by Animism, Hinduism, and Buddhism”(Witchayanee, 2015, p. 148).

Theravada Buddhism is highly respected and influential in Thai tradition and is practiced

by 95% of the population (Jutathorn, 2018). The study aims to show the link between Thai

Theravada Buddhism and the indigenous gender system, for which “supernatural beliefs”

such as animism, holy objects, and spirits living in nature provide a space for cultural

expressions of a third gender. Such beliefs play an important role in connecting humans with

spirits. This article examines how emergent identities, specifically Thai adult male-to-female

transgender sex workers with both complete sex reassignment surgery and semi-reassigned

states (with breasts and a penis, or with a vagina and no breasts), utilize the non-essentialist

philosophy of Buddhism. This paper aims to fill the knowledge gap about gender and religion

in marginalized Thai Buddhism communities and to contribute to the growing field of

research on queer religious or spiritual approaches. The research focuses on how Theravada

Buddhism is practiced in the daily lives of Thai transgender sex workers who engage in

direct and indirect work in sex tourism in Pattaya and Bangkok.

Recent research on queer studies in Thailand shows that transgender people often value sex

work as a good way to earn income to pay for their sex reassignment surgery (SRS) since the cost

of this surgery is too expensive for most Thais and is difficult to afford even when working other

available jobs (Witchayanee, 2020). The only billionaire transsexual in Thailand is JKNGlobal

Media CEO Jakkaphong Jakrajutatip (known as Anne), who spent over 40 million baht (1,025,641

GBP) [1] for SRS and other surgeries at the age of 39. In 2017, she spent 30 million baht (769,231

GBP) for surrogacy arrangements, which are illegal in Thailand, to have two babies from sperm

she donated before her SRS with a German-American egg donor in Los Angeles, United States,

andfulfill her dreamto be a mother. Shewas awarded AsiaMedia Woman ofthe Year at Content

Asia Summit 2019 in Singapore. Presently, she manages Life Inspired for Transsexuals

Foundation (LIFT) to actively advocate equality for transgender people’s right to dignity,

opportunities, education, and life skills to lead meaningful and sustainable lives in Thailand.

Furthermore, Seree Thoey Plus, the Thai political protest group that represents lesbian, gay,

bisexual, transgendered, queer, and intersex (LGBTQIþ), which was founded in mid-2020, has

advocated for legalizing same-sex marriage.

A 2014 report by the United Nations agency fighting AIDS estimated that there were

123,530 sex workers in Thailand (UNAIDS, 2015). However, advocacy groups estimated the

true figure at more than twice that, plus tens of thousands of migrants from neighboring

Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam (Thailand Ending AIDS, 2015). Prostitution has

technically been illegal in Thailand since 1960. Sex workers are punished by a fine of up to

40,000 baht (1,025 GBP), or two years in prison, or both. According to the Royal Thai Police, in

2019, more than 24,000 sex workers were arrested, prosecuted, and fined for sex work-related

offenses (US Department of States, 2019). Women and LGBTQIþrights activist Surang

Janyam condemns the situation in which the sex industry generates massive income for

Thailand, but there is no mechanism to protect sex workers (Wongsamuth, 2020). Moreover,

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