Fruit festival frenzy: Burmese family bruised in ladyboy brawl

A Burmese woman and her three daughters became victims of a violent assault by a group of more than 10 teenage ladyboys at a fruit festival at a public park in the eastern province of Trat on Saturday, May 25.

The Burmese woman, 43 year old Mo, filed a complaint against the transgender teenagers and handed over a video of the assault, which she received from a witness, to the police as evidence. Mo’s three daughters, aged 17, 14, and 6, were injured in the incident.

Mo explained that she took her daughters to the fruit event and encountered a group of more than 10 teenage ladyboys there. The group began to verbally harass them using offensive language. The situation quickly escalated into a physical altercation, with the group launching a gang attack on the mother and her children.

Fortunately, witnesses at the scene intervened to stop the assault and immediately notified Borrai Police Station officers and rescuers. The four Burmese victims were transported to a nearby hospital.

The 17 year old daughter of the woman, Ruay, sustained the most severe injuries in the attack, suffering multiple bruises and wounds across her face and body, with her left eye particularly swollen. The other victims suffered only minor injuries.

The 14 year old Burmese girl, Ae, told Channel 3 that the transgender teenagers study at the same school as her and her siblings, Borrai Wittayakhom School.

Ae recounted that the ladyboys had clashed with her a week before the incident. Although a teacher had intervened and Ae thought the issue was resolved, she was taken aback when the group targeted her once more, this time resorting to physical violence.

The police have not yet released any information regarding their investigation or the identification of the involved ladyboys.

Instances of assaults by transwomen have predominantly been documented in Thailand’s tourist hubs like Pattaya and Phuket. Just recently, a foreign man was attacked by transwomen along Bangla Road in Phuket. Allegedly, the altercation was instigated when the foreign man slapped one of the ladyboys.

Another physical assault took place on Bangla Road in Phuket two weeks ago when a group of local ladyboys attacked a transgender visitor from Pattaya. The local transwomen accused the victim of starting the conflict.