Lady Boy

Lady boy is an English-language term used in Thailand and parts of Southeast Asia to refer to kathoey, people assigned male at birth who present as transfeminine or live in a feminine gender role. In Thai culture many kathoey are understood as a third gender rather than through Western transgender categories, a view shaped in part by Buddhist ideas about identity and rebirth. Kathoey are a visible part of Thai society and often work in entertainment, fashion, and beauty. While the term is widely used and sometimes self-applied, "lady boy" can read as reductive or exoticizing, especially from outsiders, and many prefer "kathoey." Understanding the identity means centering Thai cultural context rather than mapping it onto Western labels.