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Thai Beauty Doing Hard Labor
By Reuters
Contributed by Elizabeth Parker
Bangkok
January 7, 1998
Life is no longer a cabaret for a former
transvestite beauty queen, who blames Thailand's flagging economy for forcing
him to give up stage lights and high heels for a life of hard labour.
The sweat pouring down his face, washing away his makeup, is hard
proof that Thuanchai Intaraprasit is facing the toughest time in his life.
Thuanchai, alias Looknam, 22, won a gay beauty contest dressed as a
woman only last year. He said he always dreamt that his beauty would bring
him an easy life as an entertainer, beautician or dressmaker.
But Thailand's badly faltering economy has instead forced him to work as
a coolie, lugging rice to make ends meet.
"I used to work at a cabaret show, but the group disbanded after the
economy slowed down," Thuanchai told Reuters on Wednesday after dropping a
100-kg sack of rice from his shoulder.
Thuanchai previously was a salesman and costume assistant for a
cabaret show after he won the beauty contest last year.
"I never thought that life would become this tough," said the
red-lipsticked Thuanchai, whose long hair was carefully coifed for his day of
loading rice at a warehouse alongside hundreds of other men.
Thuanchai said he now earns about 300 to 400 baht ($5.70-$7.60) a day
for eight hours work. His dream is to save enough money to be able to afford
breast implants.
"Beauty is very important for every woman, so if I save enough money I
would have plastic surgery to make myself even more beautiful," Thuanchai
said.
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