The Lady Boys of Bangkok
Do Thai ladyboys prefer hard balls or soft ones? Do they like balls which are easy to grip and have extra bounce once the covers come off? After painstaking research, Beyond The Mango Juice has found out the answer. I don’t know what you think I’m referring to, but your perverse sense of humour is way off-line, because I’m actually talking about English cricket.
The Lady Boys of Bangkok are a troupe of sixteen Thai transvestites who have performed a spectacular cabaret show in the United Kingdom since 1998. Their 2010 Fantasy and Feathers UK tour is now in full swing, but last month the guys took a little time out from their gruelling roadshow to play England’s national sport, cricket.
The lady boy performers are probably used to eating crickets in their homeland, but here in the UK they swapped bright lights, music and pencil eyeliner for a cricket bat and shiny red ball when they were given the chance by a village cricket club in Hale, Cheshire, to come on down and have a practice session.
Club batsman Ben Ormsby was on hand to put the Lady Boys of Bangkok through an afternoon of coaching. The Thai team strip was more Las Vegas than Lords, and put Twenty20’s carnival brand of quick-fire one day cricket to shame. Not to mention, cricket’s famous LBW became Ladyboy Before Wicket.
photo by Berliner Photography LLC
Bangkok and Pattaya ladyboys may prefer bad light to good, but in the case of the Lady Boys of Bangkok and cricketers in general the opposite is true. Mascara free eyes and quick reflexes were needed to get the bat on to the ball, and a deft finger grip and strong wrist action were vital to milk everything from the balls in their efforts to bowl a maiden over. Did I really write that?… my apologies.
Thai Lady Boy Angkoorat Rawangnam explained how the guys became interested in putting a bit more spin into their already hugely successful Fantasy and Feathers UK tour.
“We got hooked on watching this strange game cricket on the TV……..the great thing is that it goes on for days, so we could follow the scoring okay as the runs mount-up………but we had no idea about all the different names for the types of balls and reasons that the batsmen lose-out.”
Another of the ‘gorgeous’ guys Khun Akkarapol from Khon Kaen added;
“I thought it was a bit like baseball, but I found out that I was wrong…….I had no idea that the ball was so hard, it’s a really dangerous game……you would not find me at this position they call silly mid off, right by the batsman.”
Ben Ormsby was suitably impressed by the lady boys efforts in spotting a googly, and for once not getting caught out from behind, and Thailand’s third gender troupe found out about a third man, fine leg and executing a straight hit over long on. Here’s Ben’s analysis of the Lady Boys of Bangkok’s team performance.
“I’ve seen some unusual sights in cricket but never anything like this……give them their due, these guys had a go, and I think they will understand the game a lot better when they watch it on TV now.”
One can only surmise the cucumber in the after match sandwiches was well fondled prior to its preparation.
Here’s the remaining UK dates on the Fantasy and Feathers UK 2010 tour.
Sabai Pavillion, Edinburgh – Tue 17th August 2010 to Sat 28th August 2010
Perth Concert Hall – Thursday 2nd September 2010
Sabai Pavillion, Newcastle upon Tyne – Saturday 11th September 2010 to Saturday 9th October 2010
Sabai Pavillion, Leeds – Friday 15th October 2010 to Saturday 30th October 2010
The Spiegeltent, Belfast – Saturday 6th November 2010 to Saturday 20th November 2010
Grand Opera House, York – Monday 29th Nov 2010
The Lady Boys of Bangkok shows are eagerly sought out by female hen nights, but they are also attracting more and more men. The troupe of 16 cellulite free ‘Thai showgirls’ become increasingly more well received each year in the UK. The Fantasy and Feathers show is jam-packed (should that be tam-paxed) with superbly choreographed dance routines, singing and raunchy Thai style comedy. This year the Lady Boys of Bangkok have also appeared on ITV’s This Morning Show.
If you get the chance to see one of the shows in the Lady Boys of Bangkok UK tour I’m sure you will not be disappointed. Ticket prices range from £10 to £28. But guys, please resist the urge to jump on stage, drop your pants, and shout ‘Howzat’. If you do, the audience might witness a fine leg across your buttocks, and your googlies whacked for an almighty six. Ouch!.
The Lady Boys of Bangkok are ‘coming’ to a city near you soon.
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I always struggled to understand cricket, but adding a few lady-boys to the mix would certainly make it a bit more exciting. Playing cricket in high heels would probably classify it as an extreme sport.
Martyn I’m bowled over. A great commentary that would have been enjoyed by Brian Jonhston no doubt. Who if I remember correctly, is attributed with that famous cricketing quote, Lillie caught Willie bowled Dilley in the gulley.
Or was it “the bowlers Holding the batsman’s Willey?
These guys, uh, girls, live in the UK? Good idea of them starting a show and tour the country.
Paul there are a lot of people who don’t understand cricket and that was one of the things which attracted me to writing this post. Thais interested in cricket and ladyboys at that. I just had to have a go at writing this one. I’d have thought in your younger days all those beer tents at the games might have been a pull to you.
Mike you have included a couple of the great cricketing quotes of yesteryear, I remember them well. Here’s one from a couple of famous cricketers.
Richard Hadlee and Richie Benaud were commentating together. Michael Atherton was hit in the box and Hadlee said ‘That ball bounced’. Benaud replied ‘Which One?’
Graham Dilley was actually my favourite cricketer during his time in the game and the Lillie,Willey,Dilley quote is my favourite.
Camille the guys tour the UK for about nine months of the year and after that I assume they head back to Thailand. Apparently the show is excellent and becoming more and more popular.
I’ve never watched a single cricket game in my life and I doubt if I ever will (or understand it if I do). But, wow, I’d just like to say that they’re more gorgeous than many women I’ve seen! And I’d kill to have legs like these ladyboys!
Hilda welcome to the Juice. Between me and you….come a little closer….this is a secret….I found myself staring at the legs of the one in the yellow attire and suddenly thought, ‘what the bloody hell are you doing.’
Great legs but its the cricket stump in the middle which concerns and worries me most.
Martyn, it is funny that you should mention the beer tents because that is exactly what I think of when anyone mentions cricket. I lived in Oxford for a few years and the few times that I did attend cricket I never got past the beer (or to be more precise cider) tent.
Paul I think most young to middle aged people see cricket as a great day out which involves the chance to wet ones whistle to the extreme. Cricket wouldn’t be cricket without the beer tents and despite the amount of alcohol consumed at the matches it’s rare there’s any trouble.
Cider….you should have been a Somerset supporter.
I wish I had even the slightest inkling what cricket was all about…you know we don’t play it on this side of the pond. Adding the element of the ladyboys is a wicked good idea though and if there’s beer tents too…well I think that would be a very nice way to spend a day :>)
Steve when I wrote the post I realised some readers wouldn’t have a clue what a lot of it was about but I’m English and I love cricket, the story was to tempting for me to resist.
Cricket’s governing body (ICC) has livened the game up over the past couple of years with the introduction of Twenty20 rapid fire cricket, but the game hasn’t seen anything like the photo in this post. That would get many punters out of the beer tents and probably put quite a few in them as well.
I don’t understand cricket or ladyboys but beer tents I understand well and they help me to cope 🙂
Talen the beer tent must rank a close second to the famous old harem tents of yesteryear. Where you are heading you won’t need to spot a top spinner or a yorker just a cute looking lady who might be a ladyboy.
Have fun in the sun.
Martyn, One of these days I’m going to understand cricket…I’ve watched it a few times but with no basis as to what is actually happening it can be quite confusing…I love the terms used though.
And here I am again… coming in late…
“resist the urge to jump on stage, drop your pants and shout Howzat.’
Hilarious 🙂
I always wondered what British chaps thought of the Lady Boys of Bangkok act.
Talen you’ll get plenty of opportunity in Pattaya to watch cricket, the sports channels cover the big games.
I’m sure you’ll be devoting your time to better use like bowling your maiden over.
Catherine your comments are always worth waiting for and I know you have busy days just like the rest of us. Days where you can’t access the net for hours on end.
British men are apparently being seen more and more at the shows but it’s the women who like the performers most. That confuses me as to why.
Martyn, these are indeed busy days. Just yesterday, three years worth of posts disappeared, along with 100 drafts (mostly to partly written)… everything gone… only a shell holding 404’s… ouch… so it was a very busy (stressful) day sorting out a corrupted database.
I can understand why the ladies enjoy the lady boys (and who’s to say that all are ladies? 🙂
For me, it’s the outrageous behaviour, as I absolutely love the ott of transgender performers (the theatre in me coming out).
But some guys also like the fun of ladyboys, so maybe they have to fight their demons first?
What if I enjoy it ‘too’ much? What if I find I’m… you know? What if the guys at my local find out I’ve been? I don’t wanna be embarrassed there or anywhere…’
Catherine I take it you got all your posts back, I’ve been on WLT and everything seems as usual.
I once read that most homosexual men are married with children, I don’t know how true it is. I never really believed it but it has stuck in my head ever since. Mainly because I’m single with no children. I think the article referred to the men as closet gays.
How did you produce the fancy writing (can’t think of the name of it) at the bottom of your comment, I’d like to be able to do that.
Martyn, yes, I did get my posts back. And it was all thanks to hostgator and a large amount of Gin. Talen turned me on to hostgator (thanks Talen, hostgator has fabulous online help). My grandmother (rest her soul) turned me on to the healing properties of Gin.
I’ve read that up to the past generation (ours), some homosexual men opted to marry and have kids because they couldn’t face the stigma of being gay. But now that society has grown up a fair bit, some are relaxing into their realities. Something like that.
The fancy writing at the bottom is done with using the italics code. Since I cannot show the actual code in the comments, here’s a site that explains it (I use em): http://www.tizag.com/htmlT/htmlitalic.php
Catherine – Thanks for the italics tip, I’ve always wondered how people did it. And thanks for the info on modern man and homosexuality, I take it home designers are not putting closets in so many of their house plans nowadays.
Which one do you think pulled you through most during your lost post ordeal, grandma or hostgator. Grandma’s way seems more enjoyable and relaxing.
Martyn, Congrats on your first italics! When you cannot use blockquotes, they are also brilliant for noting where someone is talking and such.
Now that you mentioned it, when I lived in France there was no built in closets to be found in the houses I viewed. I had to buy freestanding ones (and naff at that).
The newer houses did have closets, but I’m not into new. The new ones I saw gave a feeling of empty cardboard boxes, and I prefer the character of seasoned wood.
Goodness knows what that says about the French, but I’ve certainly said enough in my time 😉
Hostgator fixed the problem, but grandma smoothed out my frantic edges. I still remember how I felt when there was NOTHING there! Ahhh! Not a happy feeling.
hostgator + grannie = recovery
Catherine how I wish the FrogBlogger (Pete) was still doing the rounds, he would have the perfect response about what your comment says about the French. My own opinion is that they’re not even useful for cheap tobacco any more. I think they might be a little upset if they knew someone had referred to there modern architecture as cardboard city.
hostgator + grannie = a slurred but very happy recovery
I miss Pete as well, as he was clever in ways only the British can be. And before anyone gets a rise out of what I said, I’m not dissing any other nationalities at all. I merely have a fondness for twisted humour 😀
Btw – Pete spends his time at an expat forum these days.
Catherine I’m pleased to hear Pete is still on the scene but what a shame he’s not currently writing on FrogBlog Thaidings. He’s a fantastic writer and a great commentator as well.
Maybe if we all show up at his forum and… you know?
Catherine that sounds a good idea but perhaps Pete has his own reasons for staying away from the Thai blog scene. Hopefully he’ll come back soon.
True. Or perhaps he doesn’t know that he’s missed?
Catherine hopefully someone’s future post will coax him back on the scene, fingers crossed.
To this day I do not understand the whole Thailand lady boy. Or the whole issues in general. I’m very open-minded to alot of things but that’s because I understand the ratio behind it. As for lady boy I perhaps need to read a case study to understand it.
Leslie