These people are not traditionally transgender, but are seen as a third sex. A significant number of Thai people perceive kathoey as belonging to a separate sex, including some transgender women themselves. In the face of the many sociopolitical obstacles that kathoeys navigate in Thailand, kathoey activism has led to constitutional protection from unjust gender discrimination as of January , but a separate third gender category has not yet been legally recognized.
Androgynous men in Khmer society may have been observed by Chinese explorer Zhou Daguan who visited Angkor Wat in — A 19th-century interpretation of the Chbab Srey is also said to contains mentions of "malicious" women being punished in the "four hells" and being reincarnated as kathoey.
Although kathoey is often translated as ' transgender woman ' in English, this term is not correct in Thailand. As well as transgender people, the term can refer to gay men , and was originally used to refer to androgynous people. Use of the term kathoey suggests that the person self-identifies as a type of male , in contrast to sao praphet song which, like "trans woman", suggests a "female" sao identity , and in contrast to phet thi sam 'third sex'.
The term phu ying praphet song , which can be translated as 'second-type female', is also used to refer to kathoey. Many dress as women and undergo "feminising" medical procedures such as breast implants , hormones , silicone injections, or Adam's apple reductions. Others may wear make-up and use feminine pronouns , but dress as men, and are closer to the Western category of effeminate gay man than transgender.
The term kathoey may be considered pejorative, especially in the form kathoey-saloey. It has a meaning similar to the English language 'fairy' or 'queen'. In Buddhism there are a variety of interpretations on how to relate to Kathoey and Transgender people.
