Three years ago, Bangkok’s drag queens had only a few bars in Silom to practice their art. Now, they are the focus of a prime-time, US-imported reality TV show, Drag Race Thailand. Here, the city’s fiercest drag queens tell us what the art really means, how they became who they are today, and why drag is so much more than cross dressing.

Annee Maywong

Annee Maywong performs on the White Orchid Cruise daily from 8-10pm, at DJ Station on Silom Soi 2 from 11pm Mondays through Saturdays, and at Maggie Choo’s Sundays Gay Night.

When I was 16, I joined a dance community where the other men were bigger and taller than me. The choreographer told me that I wasn’t suited to be a male dancer and asked me if I wanted to dress up as a female dancer. That was the start of it all.

I also realized I was gay when I was young. I never actually came out to my parents but, of course, they knew. I was also really into ballroom dancing, but my dad, an Air Force pilot, didn’t accept that. He didn’t want his son to have a career in dancing. Only after I entered and won big ballroom dancing competitions and made a name for myself did my family see that I could still bring a good reputation to our family. They stopped caring about my sexuality.

Thailand’s acceptance of LGBT identities is still in an early stage. Society may seem open from the outside, but I think people are still prejudiced. Through hard work, the LGBT community is able to prove itself.

In general, people also don’t fully understand drag performances. They still think it’s a cabaret. It’s actually performance art. It’s entertainment. The only limitation is the gender we take on. Any type of show that women are afraid to perform, drag queens will perform. We keep it beautiful, of course.

On top of being a performer every night, I work full-time as a public servant. I work so much that I’ve passed out during a performance, probably from inhaling the smoke and dry ice on the stage. Next thing I knew, I was waking up in the hospital.

Dearis Doll Besides being a full-time drag singer, Dearis Doll also helps out at the family's business—a shrimp farm. You can catch her performing at Maggie Choo's every Sunday night. I realized that I was gay when I was small. I played with the girls instead of the boys, but I liked the boys. When I officially came out to my father, he acknowledged the information, but wasn’t as accepting as he is now. I had to prove myself to him through my work and by being able to look after myself. Five to six years ago, I started as a cross-dressing singer. But I felt boxed in, trapped and bored so I became more extreme with my makeup and appearance, even researching into cross dressing. I had so much fun with it. People then told me that what I am is called a “drag queen.” I think our country is more accepting of the LGBT community now than it used to be. People now judge us based on our talent, not just on our appearance. But the majority of Thais still don’t know what drag is. This is why the TV show Drag Race is valuable. It promotes drag culture in Thailand, and people are learning that this thing exists in our society. Drag is another type of art. It’s a mix of performance and creation, which is the makeup and costume part. The product depends on a person’s style. It takes so much work and effort to become a drag queen. You need discipline and you need to love doing it. Once, during a performance, a very drunk patron came up to me. I thought he was going to shake my hand but he pulled me right off the stage. Still, that was a minor injury. Jaja Originally from the Philippines, Jaja’s taken wholeheartedly to her new home and full-time calling as a drag queen at The Stranger Bar on Silom Soi 4, every Monday through Saturday from 10pm. Catch her on Sunday nights at Maggie Choo’s Gay Night. I realized I was gay when I was seven. In my classroom in the Philippines, two students would share a single long chair, and I remember I tried to put my leg over my classmate’s leg. I didn’t come out to my family though. Back then the Philippines was quite conservative. I’m 34, so that was a long time ago. You would hear about [gay] people getting bashed or killed. They would kill people just because they were gay. These days, [society] is more accepting. It’s not a problem anymore. I came to Bangkok in September of 2015. I remember the first time I rode the BTS in full drag and in full daylight. People looked at me, but not like they would in the Philippines. It was definitely more open. I was looking for a teaching job when I first arrived, but no schools would hire me. My friend Robert Vasquez introduced me to Sean Peter and Chakgai M. Jermkwan, the owners of The Stranger Bar on Silom Soi 4. Robert told them that I had been a performer back in the Philippines and I performed for them then and there. Once, Daniel Bombardi, the retail director of Gucci, saw me perform at The Stranger Bar and flew me to Singapore to perform on his birthday night. The worst thing that has ever happened to me on stage was when I jumped down from the stage, which was like two meters high, and my balls came out. I was a newbie and was wearing only one pair of stockings because I didn’t know how to tuck [my penis] properly [laughs]. Drag is larger than life. If [other] people wear 10cm false lashes, we wear 100cm-long ones. You know, always bigger. Drag means to dress as girl, but larger than the eyes can meet. Pangina Heals