Paid to live my own life: Trans women influencers,self-governance,and platformization of creative works in Thailand

Abstract

Recent years have seen the increasing visibility of Thai transgender women in social media. Some kathoey, a Thai colloquial term for transgender women, have ventured into social media platforms by carving out their own career paths as influencers. Given that kathoey remain ostracized economically in Thai society, this study aims to analyse the emerging mode of labour which largely depends on platforms. Drawing on interviews of 11 prominent kathoey influencers, this study conceptualizes their cultural production as platform-dependent creative labour. Through this mode of labour, the livelihood of a kathoey becomes intertwined with the platforms’ economic logics and governing policies. This study contends that this mode of labour is underpinned by a contradictory form of self-governance where empowerment and disempowerment play out concurrently. While this mode of labour enables a select few kathoey to contest existing socio-economic constraints, it also further prolongs social and economic exclusion in Thai society.