During the Vietnam war, American Soldiers would come to Thailand for R&R. Since then, Thailand has become known throughout the world as a premier destination for sex tourism. Today, prostitution in Thailand is a $4.3 billion industry. Prostitutes can be found in every city and province throughout the Kingdom. Despite the underlying problems of human trafficking and HIV/AIDS, prostitution is more than tolerated. It has become a part of the social fabric of Thai society.

Thailand also has a staggering high population of transsexuals, known as ladyboys or katoey. There are so many katoey in Thailand that they have been recognized as a third gender. This cultural acceptance lies in the tolerant nature of Buddhism, the national religion. Using the notion of Karma, some Thai believe that being a katoey is the result of transgressions in past lives, concluding that katoey deserve pity rather than blame.[8]

Some of the workers featured in this FUMES series are female, some are katoey. You decide.