Ladyboys of Soi Katoey at Patong beach

A Thai katoey is a Thai boy that either dresses like or acts like a Thai girl or in other words ‘a ladyboy’. Be it through steroids, estrogen, hormone pills, gender reassignment surgery, or breast enlargement surgery, Thailand’s “beautiful” ladyboys are quite popular internationally and the sole reason for many visitors, men and women alike, coming to Thailand.

Soi Katoey is a small street off the main nightlife drag in Patong Beach called “Soi Bangla”. The official name of Soi Katoey is, “Soi Crocodile” but you won’t find any crocodiles there.

Soi Katoey is just clean fun with people eating, drinking and watching ladyboy dance shows where amateur dancing ladyboys vie for as little as a square foot of dance space on the very small triangular raised stage at the front of the soi. There are also many gay bars in the soi toward the back and the restrooms are back there so inevitably you’ll see the entire soi.

A word of caution here. The ladyboys at Soi exhibit free behaviour which may amount to staring, talking, smiling, brushing against or flirting. They are there for it. So, try not to be offended and whatever happens, DO NOT get into fight with these ladyboys coz you are sure to lose when thirty of her friends join her.

There are pickpockets here that you should be aware of. Be careful to keep your main stash of cash in a money-belt around your waist and not in your pockets as they work in teams and can distract you quite easily.