SRS Called Boon To Thai Economy

Sex change operations could prove a boon for the ailing Thai economy, a doctor says.

Doctors here report a growing demand from Thais and foreigners to have sex change operations done in Thailand due to their high quality.

A doctor who recently attended a seminar in Bangkok on sex change operations told Reuters on Monday that more and more people were deciding to have the surgery, and that Thailand has become the favourite spot to have it done.

She said men are more likely to want to change their sex than women. According to figures on global demand given at the seminar, one man in 30,000 wanted to change sex while only one in 100,000 women opted for surgery.

She said Dr Preecha Thaiwtranon of Chulalongkorn University -- one of the country's leading surgeons in the field -- told the seminar he had a waiting list of people wanting to become transsexuals.

Preecha said he had performed surgery on 560 men to make them women and on 30 women to make them men, and that 60 others were on the waiting list. He did not say over what time period he had performed the operations.

"Thailand has become the most popular place for sex change operations. Many foreigners are coming here to have the surgery and I think the income from this area will be able to help shore up the economy to a certain extent," the doctor quoted seminar organiser Dr Nikorn Dusitsil of the Institute of Medical Science Research as saying.

He said the organs constructed by Thai surgeons are quite natural -- a main selling point that brings foreigners to Thailand for the surgery, which costs about 200,000 baht ($5,128) to change a man into a woman and about twice that to change a woman into a man.

He did not say how many foreigners had undergone sex change operations in Thailand.

Neither Nikorn nor Preecha were available for comment.