Former transsexual beauty queen becomes a monk

14 May 2013 - 16:02 By Sapa-dpa
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Sorrawee Nattee smiles with her crown after winning the Miss Tifffany's Universe 2009 transgender contest in Pattaya on May 15, 2009. File photo
Sorrawee Nattee smiles with her crown after winning the Miss Tifffany's Universe 2009 transgender contest in Pattaya on May 15, 2009. File photo
Image: NICOLAS ASFOURI / AFP

The winner of Thailand’s 2009 “Miss Tiffany” transsexual beauty contest has entered the Buddhist monkhood with plans to stay there the rest of his life, reports said Tuesday.

“I want to be a monk for the rest of my life and I’m ready to leave my worldly possessions behind,” Sorrawee Nattee, 24, said after becoming a monk Sunday evening in Songkhla province, 700 kilometres south of Bangkok.

Sorrawee, who goes by the nickname of Jazz, never underwent transgender surgery and had his breast implants removed before taking his vows, his family told the Bangkok Post.

In Thailand, while women can become Buddhist nuns, only men can enter the more highly regarded monkhood, with its attendant religious and social functions.

“Jazz is 100% man, both emotionally and physically,” said the abbot of Liab Temple, where Sorrawee has taken up residence.

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