User Reviews

The Sky Living TV series, Ladyboys was aired in the United Kingdom in April 2012 and at the end of the year in Australia. More recently it has been shown in the Phillipines. Annie Andasuk and David Bonnie were featured in the show and David Bonnie was the Technical adviser. Scott and Paeng were the second couple featured in the show. Here, is a synopsis of each episode in Series 1, from an 'inside' point of view. Episode 1-Beauty Queens I have spent hours of my life watching Ladyboy pageants and as far as I am concerned they are hours I can never get back! Annie loves them of course especially as she was a cabaret dancer in Samui herself. Tiffany's is a profitable commercial business and I think that it is important to remember that. The transgender people featured in this episode are following their dreams and the chance to win 10,000 USD. For an entry fee of 500 USD and a lot of beauty treatment, fame and a cash prize of 10,000 USD awaits. Although they may be lovely people they can rarely compete with Thai Ladyboys in terms of feminine looks or grace. It seemed to me, as an observer, that the most feminine did not get into the top rankings. The only ladyboys who are able to compete on equal footing are Phillipino, Thai and to some degree South Americans although they tend to be a little bigger. Now, I am not suggesting that all Thai ladyboys are paragons of beauty and grace or even that they all look exactly like women. In fact, very few ladyboys could be mistaken for women except by the blind or those in denial. There are a few who could pass for women but none in this show. Not to take anything away from them however, some of them are still very sexy and in my opinion comparisons between ladyboys/transgender girls are completely bogus. They are beautiful people in their own right. A Thai phrase that I like is ' Neng Fa Jam Lenk', or ' Angel from Sky Remember Copy' . . . copies of Beautiful Angels. 'Neng Fa', is the best bit! Thai Ladyboys have a head start with their genetics, being smoother, lighter built and being able to start hormones earlier and more cheaply than their European or American counterparts. Thai culture has a part to play as well. I think that a false impression is given in the competition as the girls in question do not truly represent their countries, it's just the place they come from. Hence, two Miss US.A's. Lots of them use their trip to get surgery done as Thailand, despite the cheapness of surgery here has to be a leader in the field as with so many ladyboys, the surgeons are very practised in their art. There are some laughs in this show particularly when the girls are together chatting about hormones and a few of them having temper tantrums. It is interesting for me to listen to transgender people talking in English as opposed to the Thai I am used to hearing (and partially understanding!) Although the shows themselves are not of great interest to me, the girls who compete all seemed interesting people with a rare insight into the world of Western transgender women. I would welcome the chance to work with any of them. Annie and I attended Miss Tiffany International again this year in Bangkok.