Our arrival in Chiang Mai coincided with the annual Chiang Mai Flower Festival, a big event in the city. The festival headquarters was set up in a park on the edge of the old town, where hundreds of booths displayed the most gorgeous flowers in bloom, mostly orchids. A riot, as they say, of color. Exuberant musicians and dancers performed on outdoor stages around the city and on Saturday morning there was a huge parade. Huge. It started around 8:00 in the morning and was still going through the city at noon. Dozens and dozens of large, flower-bedecked floats, marching bands, costumed people and many many spectators snapping pictures. Including me. Later, on Saturday night, in the carnival-atmosphere park, families gathered to socialize, eat great stall food, see the floats up close and generally enjoy themselves. It was fun. There were festival prizes given out for everything. Best float, best floral displays and, of course, most beautiful women. The Miss Chiang Mai Festival Queen.No, not him. But I think this little guy was the star of the show.
Apparently there was some controversy this year prior to the festival when organizers decreed that you had to be a woman, born and bred, to enter the beauty contest. Some said that this was blatant discrimination against the katoeys, the ladyboys, the transgendered.
Others observed that allowing katoeys to enter the contest might put the "real" women at a disadvantage because the ladyboys were actually more beautiful than they were. Here's some pictures from recent Miss Ladyboy contests held every year in Pattaya. You judge.
In a high school in northeastern Thailand the administration has constructed a third washroom for its boys who identify as transgendered. The headmaster estimates that in any given year this represents something like 10-20% of the boy student population.
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