The country of Cambodia has a shady reputation after emerging from years of war to rebuild. The only things most people know about it are the long war, Angkor Wat and the unsavory reputation as a magnet for sickos. I haven’t tried to dig too deep into the underbelly of the place, but as far as I can tell the bad reputation the place has is either exaggerated or outdated. There are a lot of working women around but a lot of them are on the older side. That’s relative. Women in their 30’s are older in a country where people die on average in their 50’s.

Most sex work in Cambodia is aimed at locals. It spans from five dollar brothels for poor guys to high end karaoke places for connected guys who want to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars. Most foreigners don’t see any of this, or pass by it all without noticing. For foreigners the main realm is the girlie bars in Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville and Siem Reap.

There are a good number of ladyboys in Cambodia but it’s nothing like Thailand where they are a normal part of everyday life. That’s true even though kathoey, the very word for ladyboy in Thai, originates in Cambodia and the local Khmer language. In Thailand this word is sometimes used to described gay guys. In Cambodia it is too, but it is just as common for gay guys to be called “gay.” The English word and concept seems to have filtered into the language. Cambodian ladyboys usually don’t look as good as the ladyboys in Thailand. I think that’s because they are in general poorer and less accepted. It’s not common to see a ladyboy with silicone tits or any other surgery. A lot of times they don’t even have good clothes. They live more in the shadows too. You don’t see many walking out and about.

There are dozens of girlie bars in Phnom Penh but none are ladyboy bars. The closest thing to that would be the Rainbow Bar near the corner of Street 136 and Norodom Boulevard. In reality, this is a gay bar where local guys entertain a mostly foreign customer base. But on certain days they have cabaret shows where some of the bar guys dress up in fantastical women’s clothes and do a little turn on the catwalk. A lot of these guys are looking for foreigners with money, but they aren’t really ladyboys. Rainbow Bar was attacked with a bomb years ago but it recovered and since then I haven’t heard of any anti-gay stuff. There are some really open gay places in town that don’t have any issues such as Blue Chilli on Street 178. Ladyboys occasionally appear there but it’s more of a place for gays and occasionally cross dressers.

Some ladyboy freelancers hang out at the infamous Golden Sorya Mall, which is a sort of open air beer garden. There aren’t many though. You might see three on any given night. They sometimes filter in and out of the local girlie bars like Plan B, but they don’t work in them. These ladyboys are usually pretty worn down. They will go with customers for as little as $15 US, but usually they want $20 or more.

Other ladyboys hang around Wat Phnom at night. They can also be found on the little bridge just two blocks south of Wat Phnom on Norodom Boulevard. These are street walkers who mainly aim at local guys. They are totally open to meet with foreigners though and most of them speak English pretty well which can’t be said for the “real women” who also work the same streets. They go with locals for as little as $5 but some will want more especially when it comes to foreigners who may make more in a day than their parents make in a month or even a year. Once in a while you’ll see a ladyboy walking the riverside at night looking for customers but they tend to look really rough.

A few of the hostess bars have ladyboys working regularly even though they are greatly outnumbered by regular ladies. This is a pretty new occurrence. It didn’t happen even a few years ago. But now you can usually find some ladyboys working at Island Bar on Street 118 and Candy Bar on Street 136. The ladyboys at Island Bar are generally passable and hot and ready to go with any cashed up guy who asks them.

Finally, there are two well known and quite attractive ladyboys who work the girlie bars on Street 104 near Wat Phnom. They can be found in Rose Bar and Top Ten Bar. They mix in with the regular women who work in these bars but they stand out as they are taller and have enormous fake boobs. I think they used to work in Thailand. You can find a lot of Cambodian ladyboys working the bars in Thailand where they are more accepted, able to get surgery and able to make a lot more money. Some of them then come home later. These ladyboys want $100 a night to go with a guy. Since Phnom Penh is such a small town word gets out and any guy who goes with them will be known at least on the street and around their hotel or home as a ladyboy lover. At most that usually means nothing more than a few jokes cracked in the background but it is something to mention.

So, the ladyboy scene is pretty limited in Phnom Penh. Especially if you are only looking at the pay for play avenues. A lot of ladyboys feature prominently on dating websites and apps though. You will always see a good amount of ladyboys on Tinder, Badoo, Tango and Date in Asia. The ladyboy focused dating sites like Ladyboy Kisses and My Ladyboy Date also have many, and weed out any genetic women. Some of these ladyboys are looking for money and nothing more, but a few are really looking for love.

The post Where are the ladyboys in Phnom Penh, Cambodia? appeared first on Ladyboy Reports.

While Bangkok is filled with ladyboy bars, there are still guys who prefer to meet ladyboys elsewhere. Some will rely on things like ladyboy dating sites and apps. Others do it old school and hit the streets in search of babes with meat. I don’t know how many guys fit this mold, but there must be many. How else could you explain all of the ladyboys out walking the streets of Bangkok each night?

A lot of people say the ladyboys who work bars are the best option for paid action. The argument goes that the ladies are unlikely to do anything crazy or steal from a customers since they can easily be tracked down back at the bar where they work. I guess there may be some truth to that, but I prefer to stay safe and aware no matter who I am with or where I find them. Some bars allow freelancers to show up whenever they want. Such ladyboys aren’t really attached to bars. Besides, there are horror stories out there from guys who have had serious troubles with ladyboys they met online or in bars.

In general, most ladyboys working the adult entertainment circuit are just trying to make a buck. Most of them don’t want to rob or steal and some even have really great hearts. I actually think that applies to population as a whole including street walkers. Some certainly will steal or cheat if they get the chance, but that’s true of basically any population you can find. In my experience, the president of the local bank is more likely to be a serious thief than any transgender chick hanging out on the streets.

Anyway, each person has to make their own decisions. Some will stick to bars. Some only go with street walkers. Other stay home and jack off to ladyboy porn, which is the safest bet of all. Still others live day to day, mix things up and go with the flow. I tend to think those kinds of people get the most enjoyment out of life, but I have no way to prove it for sure.

Ladyboy street walkers can be found all over Bangkok, but mainly they hang out around lower Sukhumvit Road. The most well known concentration can be find every night of the week in the Nana Hotel parking lot just across the street from Nana Plaza. Some of these ladyboys are actually semi-famous. A few have appeared the aforementioned ladyboy porno films or are otherwise known among aficionados.

More ladyboys can be found across Sukhumvit on Soi 3. These ladyboys tend to aim more for the many Arab guys who wander up and down the street at all hours of the day and night, but they seem pretty open to going with anyone who approaches them.

Another large concentration of ladyboys can be found hanging around Thermae Bar which is on the corner of Sukhumvit and Soi 15. This is a well known bar where lots of freelancers hang out looking for customers. Japanese guys seem to dominate but there are farangs around too. The ladyboys seem to be equally popular with all nationalities.

Ladyboys are also scattered all along Sukhumvit Road itself. Most of them hang out on the north side of the street but there are always some ladyboys on the south side too. More are found between Soi 3 and Soi 15 than anywhere else. I have never seen any past Soi 23. There is a Starbucks on Sukhumvit Between Soi 3/1 and Soi 5 that always has some ladyboys and regular lady streetwalkers outside. This is the only place I know that has ladyboy street walkers around the clock. I’ve seen them there all through the day, including during early morning coffee stops.

Finally there are always some ladyboy street walkers hanging around Thanon Phet Uthai. This is an out of the way place that attracts more local customers than foreigners but you do see white faces around time to time. Regular women who work the soapy massage parlors come here between midnight and 1:00 AM to try for some extra money. Ladyboys are also attracted by the potential customers so they show up too.

Obviously street walkers are free to set their own prices and customers can and do negotiate with them. It’s not like a bar or a massage parlor with a set pricing system. Still, some market rates have been established. Prices can go above or below these rates depending on any number of things including the looks of the ladyboys or the customers. Usually, a short time session with a ladyboy street walker in Bangkok costs between 1500 and 3000 Baht ($42-84 USD). Guys pay more for overnight stays. The usual rates are between 3000 Baht and 9000 Baht ($42-126 USD).

Ladyboys usually start showing up at around 8:00 PM and some can be found in the streets until the early morning hours. Usually the less attractive ladyboys come out later. I think they might be relying on beer goggles to help them find customers.

With the exception of some of the ladyboys who hang around in the Nana Hotel parking lot, the street walkers in Bangkok are generally a lot less aggressive than the street walkers in Pattaya. They usually just stand around quietly. At most they may do a little wave to try to get someone’s attention. They don’t really grab guys and try to pull them in. At least from what I’ve seen.

Last but not least, I should also mention the many ladyboys who now hang out in the pop up bars found on Sukhumvit Road. These bars are usually just carts and tables set up by enterprising individuals on the sidewalks between Soi 3 and Soi 23. I keep hearing that law enforcement is planning to shut them down, but they are still there night after night. A lot of ladyboys seem to be involved in setting these things up. Even the ones set up by others seem to attract some ladyboys too. Guys can join them at the bar for a drink, play some games and if the mood is right negotiate to go somewhere with them. Obviously there is no bar fine to be paid but these ladyboys seem to ask for more than the straight out street walkers.

The post Ladyboy street walkers in Bangkok, Thailand appeared first on Ladyboy Reports.