Venus Ladyboy Trap

Thailand has one of the largest per-capita populations of transsexuals in the world, so it was inevitable that someone in the music business would have thought of putting together a transsexual singing act.

In 2005, Sony BMG’s local A&R director Amonrat Homhoul conducted auditions among Thailand’s transsexual community to find five "ladyboys" (the Thai term for men who have undergone sex change operations) for a vocal group dubbed Venus Flytrap.

The group’s debut album Visa for Love was released in December. It has yet to actually enter the charts, but the group is nevertheless generating considerable buzz.

Modeled on the Spice Girls, the five members have been given the stage names Cool Venus, Naughty Venus, Posh Venus, Sweet Venus and Hot Venus. The group had to go through a full year of singing, acting and dance lessons before their debut.

In Thailand, sex change operations are relatively cheap, and Thai culture has fewer prejudices than other Asian countries against transvestitism.