Sunday, November 26, 2006

Miss Alcazar Crowns Top Female Impersonator

Transsexuals, or in the local English slang "ladyboys", or the local language "kathoey", are one of Pattaya's biggest tourist attractions.

From the 2 monstrous venues of Tiffany's and Alcazar, each doing 3 Moulin Rouge style shows a night to thousands of Asian tourists, all the way down to the pickpocketing drug addicts who prowl Beach Road after midnight, ladyboys are everywhere in Pattaya. (You might even walk into Burger King, and have your order taken by a feminine, lipsticked, powdered Thai man.)

Ladyboys are immensely popular in Asia and particularly in Thailand. Thus, every year, both the Tiffany Show and Alcazar hold annual pageants to find Thailand's prettiest ladyboy, and they are nationally televised events. (Also, Tiffany's started an international competition a couple of years ago. This year's winner was Miss Mexico.) This week, Alcazar had it's pagaent.

Anyway, if you ever come to Pattaya, I've seen both Tiffany's and Alcazar's shows and enjoyed the hell out of both of them. They are huge productions... the world's largest drag shows, if you will, with million-dollar production budgets. They are worth a visit.

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