The Third Pathway
Downloadable Content
The first well-known Thai novel on Kathoey’s lives, Thang-Sai-Thee-Sam (The Third Pathway) was serialized in Sakul Thai magazine between 1980 and 1981 and later published as a book in 1982. It is written by Kiratree Chanar, a Thai transsexual female novelist who flew to America in 1975 to become the first Thai Kathoey to undergo sexual reassignment surgery with Dr. Stanley Biber. The novel reflects Thai romance genre conventions except that the main character is Kathoey. Kaew (In Thai, means glass and it can imply to fragility, purity and femininity), the Kathoey protagonist, is feminine, beautiful, and passes as a woman. However, she came from a lower class/caste of the society background, growing up an orphan and working as a bus ticket taker. Until she met Jun, another Kathoey character who is non-passing, funny and, completely different from Kaew. Jun suggests Kaew work in a beauty salon while helping Kaew in becoming a woman, as she dreams of becoming one. After that, Kaew meets three men. First is Thiraphron, who is an artist student, friend and Kaew’s forever first love. Then, Navin who helps Kaew by giving her a job as a receptionist in his restaurant and supports her financially in pursuing her dream. Last is Pongphol who came from an elite family and fell in love with Kaew. However, at the end, Keaw leaves every man behind and finds her true love is for all of humanity, as she chooses to become a volunteer teacher in a rural province of Thailand. Thang-Sai-thee-Sam is both a fictional romance as well as a semi-autobiographical novel. It was inspired by the author’s own feeling and sex-change experience. The narrative served to broaden understanding of Kathoey individuals by people in society at the time in addition to providing a history of sexual reassignment surgery based on the writer’s experience. – description by Chanathip Suwannanon.
- In Collection:
- 1 book (888 pages)
- ทางสายที่สาม
- Thāng sāi thī sām
- The Third Way
- Thang-Sai-Thee-Sam
- 3rd Edition
- 15.5, 101
- From the Print Collection
- Donated to the UVic Transgender Archives by Chanathip Suwannanon.
- Digitized by Canadiana as part of a CLIR grant.
- October 2023
- Keywords from the Homosaurus. Metadata by KD.
- Rights
- Contact Special Collections and University Archives for access to the original. This material is made available on this site for research and private study only.
- DOI
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