Thailand has banned cosmetic castration Wednesday. Hospitals and clinics in the nation have been doing the fairly quick surgery where the testicles are removed. The operation only takes 15 to 20 minutes to perform.
Thailand is home to a fairly large number of "ladyboys" or "katoey." The term applies covers males who are transvestites all the way up to a man who has a full sex change.
Tolerance is shown to those who are considered the "third sex" in the Asian country. It is now the leader of sex-change surgery in the world.
A letter was sent to 16,000 private health units in Thailand from the government alerted doctors that continue to do the operation will face up to six months in jail.
It's hard to track them down as it takes only 15-20 minutes to have the surgery," senior health official Tara Chinakarn told Reuters.
Internet advertisements offer the surgery for only 4,000 baht ($125).
The ban comes because the operation takes such a quick period of time. Normally sex change surgery is just one step in the total picture. It also includes requires rigorous physical and mental evaluation of the patient and a lifetime commitment to taking certain medications that alter the body.
