Sex-change operation draws a crowd

PHUKET TOWN: A large audience of doctors, hospital staff and representatives of the press today watched a man become a woman during six hours of sex-change surgery. The onlookers, including some 40 visiting members of the Thai Physicians of America Association, snacked on lunch while they watched the video conference broadcast. Phuket’s own world-renowned sex-change expert, Dr Sa’nguan Kunaporn performed the sex reassignment surgery at Bangkok Phuket Hospital, responding to questions as he snipped. The operation was part of a US-Thai exchange of expertise. The unconscious star of the screening was a 99-kilo American man who had already had breast implants. During the operation, parts of the patient’s genitals were used to create a simulated vagina. Dr Soontorn Sritha, Assistant Director of the hospital, said that 10 patients had had sex reassignments there in the past 18 months. Most were from overseas. He explained that patients need a certificate from a psychiatrist to confirm that a sex change is appropriate. “The operation costs about US$5,500 and the mammoplasty [breast surgery] costs a maximum of US$2,000 – about 30% to 40% cheaper than in other countries,” Dr Soontorn said. Today’s patient will take about two weeks to recover, he added.