BANGKOK: Gay activists in Thailand said on Thursday they are joining worried parents to urge doctors to stop castrating minors who want to take the first step toward a sex change.

Leading gay activist Nathee Teerarojanapong said he and a group of parents will submit a letter Thursday to Thailand's Medical Council urging stricter controls on private clinics that castrate teenagers.

Underage boys who hope eventually to have sex change operations are increasingly seeking castrations as a first step toward becoming women, he said.

The boys believe that in doing so their bodies will not develop masculine features so their appearance will be more feminine when they save enough money for the complete gender reassignment surgery.

"I want the Medical Council to issue a warning to those clinics, because they are too young to know what they really want," Nathee said.

The Medical Council is the professional association that establishes standards of practice for Thai doctors.

Many clinics require parental approval before performing castrations on minors, but Nathee said some parents have agreed to the procedure only after their children threatened to commit suicide.

"I want clinics to stop performing the operations regardless of whether they get parental consent. They are too young, and this procedure could cause side effects later in life," he said.

Somsak Lohlekha, chairman of the Medical Council, said a committee was being set up to establish guidelines for the process and to determine at what age boys should be allowed to have the surgery.

"The committee will find a solution and establish measures to ensure the boys really want to become women," he said.

Castration costs as little as 4,000 baht (130 dollars), a tiny fraction of the total cost of gender reassignment surgery.

Thailand is famously tolerant of transsexuals, known locally as "kathoey", or the third gender. While they have traditionally been allowed roles in festivals and cabarets, they have in recent years sought to make inroads into mainstream society.


- AFP/so