I've been wondering this as well. While it's true natural Thai features favor men who want to look like women, that's not remotely a reason on why there are so many.
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I've been wondering this as well. While it's true natural Thai features favor men who want to look like women, that's not remotely a reason on why there are so many.
The reason is relatively simple. Thailand has never been colonized by the Europeans or any other country. They have never had a cultural matrix based on an Abrahamic religion and therefore have a completely different view and conception of sexuality and gender issues. Transgenderism has existed in Thai society for over a thousand years, it's something they're used to, unlike in the Christian\Islamic\Jewish world, where being openly and publicly transgender is a relatively recent, controversial and not very socially accepted phenomenon.
It might be related to Hijra. India used to have a big influence in these parts of Asia.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hijra_(South_Asia)
Hijras are officially recognised as a third gender throughout countries in the Indian subcontinent,[8][9][10] being considered neither completely male nor female. Hijras' identity originates in ancient Hinduism and evolved during the Delhi Sultanate (1226–1526) and Mughal Empire (1526–1707).[11][12]
This may be plausible, I forgot to mention that despite not having any Judeo-Christian or Islamic influence, Thailand does have some significant Hindu influence and they relate transsexuals to the karma they have to endure in this life for their past actions, a concept that is more Hindu than Buddhist.