---
product_id: 50346656
title: "The Third Sex: Kathoey: Thailand's Ladyboys Paperback – 1 May 2014"
brand: "dr richard totman"
price: "A$92"
currency: AUD
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 11
url: https://www.desertcart.com.au/products/50346656-the-third-sex-kathoey-thailands-ladyboys-paperback-1-may-2014
store_origin: AU
region: Australia
---

# The Third Sex: Kathoey: Thailand's Ladyboys Paperback – 1 May 2014

**Brand:** dr richard totman
**Price:** A$92
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** The Third Sex: Kathoey: Thailand's Ladyboys Paperback – 1 May 2014 by dr richard totman
- **How much does it cost?** A$92 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.com.au](https://www.desertcart.com.au/products/50346656-the-third-sex-kathoey-thailands-ladyboys-paperback-1-may-2014)

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- dr richard totman enthusiasts

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## Description

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## Images

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## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    Excellent, well-researched book.
  

*by M***H on Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 October 2013*

This is one of a handful of books written by reputable researchers which deal with the transsexual phenomenon in a readable and enjoyable manner. Its academic standards are high, but it's a highly informative and entertaining read. The title really says it all, as far as the subject is concerned. The author tells, in detail, of the lives of three kathoey. They are very different, although known to each other.Transsexuals are people first, and their lives are as diverse as anyone else's. Kathoey are no different, and though in the West we are perhaps most used to seeing them as showgirls or sex-workers, in fact they enter every profession, trade and sport in modern Thailand, as well as performing important traditional roles, such as in organising weddings. Totman hints at this, but the book is quite short and thus limited in this direction. Nevertheless, the areas he does cover are dealt with very well, with neither sensationalist prurience nor condemnation. The subjects are treated fairly, without any hint of judgementalism.Totman makes no attempt to promote any of the theories of causation which abound, many of which have been proved both inaccurate and unhelpful; in avoiding the heat and lack of illumination in that debate and instead focusing on the humanity, indeed the ordinariness of his subjects, Totman honours them as people and does credit to himself. This is a good book that deserves to be read.I would strongly advise the reader to pick up a copy of Don Kulick's 'Travesti', which deals with transsexuals in Brazil in a similarly accurate and professional manner, at the same time.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    A must read, for both enthusiasts and scholars alike
  

*by A***R on Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 March 2015*

One of the very few real, proper books about the subject. No voyeurism, no platitudes.Too bad, too short (less than 200 pages).The author is candid and opened, and starts with, like most of us I guess, a head full of pre-conceived ideas, and the fuzzy feeling that this is not the way it is. And this is nicely brought in, slowly, chapter after chapter, with the few ladyboys he talks to unravelling this or that details, slice of life, funny, violent or deeply saddening, but always with deep emotion, without being cheesy and avoiding fabricated compassion.Now, the author is not good at writing books. He's a scholar and it shows. But well.. take the book as a guide, and honestly you can more or less jump from one chapter to the other in any order.He did do some research, and he did a pretty good job at it, being on his own, with short time. Some references are very good indeed, and I liked the parallels he draws with other 3rd sex communities in India, Polynesia and America. So it is not just anecdotes and interviews, like some other books. It is solid and well thought and researched, with a good balance being the research and the life stories.All in all a very good and commendable contribution to better understand ladyboys, and hopefully accept them for who they are... a good part of us, humans, with stories, emotions, lives, and ancestors.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    'Ladyboys' as they really are.
  

*by J***S on Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 August 2003*

This is not the sort of salacious account you might read in the newspapers.Nor is it a superficial Western guidebook account of 'transvestite cabarets.'Richard Totman lived with a Thai family for several months listening to the kathoey telling their own stories,and adding an account of their long history as an intrinsic part of Thai culture and their relationship to the nation's religion.But most of all, this a charming account of real human beings.

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*Product available on Desertcart Australia*
*Store origin: AU*
*Last updated: 2026-02-23*