Patients of Thai doc who does sex change operations call him ‘daddy’ Loop Jamaica

Black Immigrant Daily News

A Thai doctor has performed so many sex change operations his patients call him ‘Daddy’, because they feel born again.

Dr Thep Vejvisith runs a small clinic in an unglamorous part of Bangkok, Thailand, where he offers gender reassignment procedures for half the price of most other clinics.

The 69-year-old medic sells the genital procedure for 72,000 Thai Baht, or around 1,760 GBP, to people struggling with their identity but who can’t afford the high costs of a transition.

Such is Dr Thep’s popularity, many of his patients now call him ‘Daddy’ or their ‘Saviour’ because he was able to make them feel re-born. He has been doing the procedures for more than 35 years and believes he has performed more than 30,000 gender reassignment operations as well as more than 100,000 boob jobs and other cosmetic procedures for trans women.

Many trans women from Britain, Europe, and the US visit his clinic, which has little more than a reception desk, an operating theatre and the doctor’s office for a swift procedure.

“Sometimes they call me daddy because they feel re-born. Sometimes they call me their father. I founded Pratunam Polyclinic 35 years ago. I started treating general diseases and birthmarks because there were fewer than 20 cosmetic doctors around at that time.

“I studied and trained abroad and applied what I learned back home. A ladyboy is born a male. Some of them suffer from having a penis. Some [take their lives] or cut off their genitals because they didn’t have money,” said Dr Thep.

Buddhist-majority Thailand has for many years held liberal and accepting views towards trans women, known locally as ‘Katoys’ or ‘Ladyboys’, before it became a troubling social issue in the west. They are often glamorous and embrace the idea of being overtly female — wearing flamboyant dresses and makeup.

However, in a country where citizens earn a minimum wage of roughly 7 GBP per day, a sex reassignment surgery costs a whopping 150,000 to 200,000 baht (?3,400 to ?4,500) and is not covered under the country’s healthcare scheme.

Dr Thep carries out an average of 10 to 15 sex change operations per week — each takes him about three hours.

Some of his customers are tourists who travel to the country for a holiday while they have medical transitions.In his 35-year career, he believes he has carried out more than 130,000 operations, with many trans women having breast augmentations of facial procedures without genitial surgey.

Dr Thep even does regular boob jobs for women who join waiting lists to use the surgeon because of his cut-price operations.

Asked why several people have chosen him as their surgeon, Dr Thep gave a simple answer: “Cheap and good. If you can offer good work for a low price, customers will keep coming to you.”

He admitted that all surgeries come with risk, but he’ll always be there for his patients — as he’s been for more than 30 years of his career.

“To cut off the penis, there’s no way there won’t be some complications,” he said, adding about five per cent of patients have had issues.

“Whatever happens, you can reach me on my mobile phone,” Dr Thep said.

Speaking on the contentious issue of biologically male trans women participating in female sports, Dr Thep believes they should be allowed to compete alongside biological females.

He said: “They should have equal opportunity to study, work, survive… it’s a simple requirement for a human being. I think transsexuals should have the basic rights. They have female genitals so they should be allowed to have the same.”

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