Word: thailand
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They're falling like dominoes. In just 48 hours, three top allies of Thailand's Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej have been forced out of politics by a series of legal blows. On Thursday, Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama resigned after a constitutional court red-carded him for not consulting parliament on a border dispute with Cambodia. On Wednesday, the same court forced the resignation of Health Minister Chaiya Sasomsap for not declaring his wife's assets before taking office, as is required by Thai law. And on Tuesday, former speaker of parliament Yongyut Tiyapairat was banned from politics for five years...
Just five months into his tenure as Prime Minister, Samak - a veteran right-wing firebrand who is equally as famous in Thailand for his T.V. cooking show - is now fighting for his political life. Not only has he lost three linchpins in his People's Power Party (PPP), but one of the court decisions could also spell the end of the entire party. Thailand's constitution mandates that a political party can be dissolved if one of its executives is found guilty of a crime. House speaker Yongyut was the PPP's deputy leader, and therefore the party - itself...
...Although kathoeys do face some stigma and bureaucratic hurdles in Thailand - those who have undergone sex-change operations, for example, are still listed as men on their national I.D. cards - they are also a normal and visible part of society. A Bangkok travel agency I use is staffed by kathoeys, and a cashier at my local grocery store is rapidly transitioning toward womanhood. One of the Immigration Department officers who last year helped me renew my work visa had both an Adam's apple and lavish mascara. Kathoeys star on TV soap operas and grace catwalks at fashion shows, while...
...Kampang school isn't the first one to accommodate its kathoey pupils. Several years ago, a technical college in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai unveiled what it called "pink lotus" bathrooms, reserved for kathoeys. Now Thailand's Education Ministry is considering introducing similar bathrooms and dormitories on the university level, even though many colleges require ladyboys to wear male clothing on campus. (For the most part, however, kathoey students can choose feminine hairstyles and wear jewelry, nail polish and makeup...
...toilets. Others would rather have educational funds go to combating the stereotype that the only jobs kathoeys can expect to excel in are in the beauty or entertainment - read sex - industries. Certainly, career prejudice is a lingering problem: one Thai teachers' college, for instance, refuses to enroll kathoeys. Nevertheless, Thailand is a far more open-minded place than even the United States. And the tolerance isn't just a liberal, urban phenomenon. Kathoey beauty pageants are popular in Thai villages; the Kampang school is located in one of Thailand's poorest and most rural regions. As one Thai hill-tribe...