The words “tom” and “dee” were first introduced in the 1980s when this new group of women started to become more visible and noticeable in Thai society. Not to say that non-heterosexual experiences did not take place before. Even during the Ayutthaya period (1350-1767) royal accounts tell stories of concubines “playing with friends” (len pheuan). Throughout the 20th century female same-sex relationships were quite common. Women who preferred masculine dress and manners were defined as mannish, or called kathoeys, and presumed to be attracted to other women. It was only in the 70s that toms and dees emerged, growing in public presence throughout the 80s, as a result of socio-economic changes experienced by the country and increased attention from the media and academics.

With the boom of industrialization and urbanization in Thailand during the 1970s and 1980s, Thai women, moving to bigger cities to work in factories or in the service sector, had increased access to higher education and began to find more prestigious, better paying jobs. This increased their financial independence and gave them the ability to economically support their families which, in turn, lowered the familial demands on many Thai women to get married at a young age. With marriage acceptable later in life and increased economic power and social independence, Thai women had the opportunity to more freely explore their sexualities. In a society, such as Thailand’s, where premarital heterosexual encounters could “ruin” a woman and her reputation, same-sex experiences between women are often seen as innocent and harmless adding to the acceptability of female same-sex couples. With these factors working in tandem, the appearance of toms and dees in Thai society grew.

In the 1980s toms stopped being defined only as “mannish” or as kathoeys. Yet, like their predecessors, toms continued to dress in men’s clothes and refer to themselves using masculine pronouns (phom) but their identity became more defined and noticeable in Thai society.

At the same time, their partners, dees, ceased to be considered only as normal women, in that they still prefered masculine partners, and emerged as a distinct group, even though often only recognizable through their relationship to toms. This defined space for toms and dees in Thai society is also due to increased attention from media and academics who publicized the issue. Consequently, communities of toms and dees solidified in their communities by establishing their own magazines, web forums and venues, and providing cultural references and models for these identities.