Considered a woman in NZ, a man in Thailand, Jirarat Teachasriprasert wants a Kiwi passport to show she is ‘one hundred per cent female’

Thai transgender woman Jirarat Teachasriprasert aka Jim Sarah (right) is fighting to get a visa for her niece Kwanchanok Taechasriprasert to stay. Photo / Jason Oxenham

Jirarat Teachasriprasert is recognised as a woman in New Zealand, but official documents from the country of her birth still record her as male.

The 70-year-old, who has lived in New Zealand for 27 years, last week applied for New Zealand citizenship and wants to get a Kiwi passport that would officially state she is a woman.

Born in Thailand in 1954 and assigned male at birth as Somchart Teachasriprasert, she said she has struggled with her identity for most of her life.

“In Thailand, I am still considered a man. But here in New Zealand, I am a woman,” Teachasriprasert said.

“I am already getting on in age, I want to be a Kiwi and get a passport that I can proudly show as proof I am one hundred per cent woman.”

Unlike New Zealand, Thai law only recognises the sex of a person at birth.

Here, a citizen can get a passport with the gender they identify with: either male, female or X (indeterminate/unspecified) without needing to change any details on their birth or citizenship records.

Jirarat Teachasriprasert is recorded as male in her Thai passport. Photo / Jason Oxenham

Teachasriprasert said her life has been one of many battles and obstacles as she has fulfilled her dream of living her life as a woman, both physically and in how she feels about herself.

She was born the eldest son in a traditional Chinese family and had been expected to take on the role as head of the household.

Her conservative parents hoped she would marry and fulfil the societal expectations of a man continuing the family line.

“Growing up, I always knew I was a female trapped inside a male body. I hated it,” Teachasriprasert said.

“I used to look at my male private organ and curse it, saying you make my real person feel trapped.”

She took on the nickname Jim Sarah – Jim is Thai slang for vagina – because she was “so angry” with being assigned male at birth.

Jirarat Teachasriprasert was an actress in Thailand.

Despite Thailand being a country with a large transgender community, Teachasriprasert said transphobic bullying was rampant.

“My teenage years were the hardest, with many of my family members turning their backs on me and I was bullied by people who claimed to be friends,” she said.

After she left school, Teachasriprasert became an actress and singer and said her good looks and femininity landed her some lead roles in movies.

She also made a living by performing in cabarets and televised variety shows.

“You can say I was a Thai celebrity and movie star back in the day, and life got much better,” Teachasriprasert said.

“Many of my fans didn’t believe I was transgender.”

Jirarat Teachasriprasert had gender-affirming surgery in the UK. Photo / Jason Oxenham

In her early 20s, Teachasriprasert left her showbiz career and followed her business dream.

She travelled to the United Kingdom at age 24, and had a joint-venture with a friend running a restaurant in London.

“Travelling was not easy because my passport stated that I was male, but everything about me looked female,” Teachasriprasert said.

“At airport immigration, I am almost always stopped and sometimes they don’t know whether to have a male or female officer check me.”

While working in London, she chanced upon an advertisement by a hospital in Kensington looking for candidates for a gender-affirming surgery trial.

About 140 people applied, she said, but only seven got selected and she was one of them.

“I felt it was a blessing from the gods because they too wanted me to be a woman,” Teachasriprasert said.

Jirarat Teachasriprasert took on the name of Jim Sarah – Jim is slang for vagina in Thai.

The surgeries were free of charge because she was a trial case, and she remembers them taking about 12 hours to complete.

Teachasriprasert said she cried after her gender-affirming operation.

“The nurses thought I was in pain but they were actually tears of joy.”

Despite having received the surgery, Teachasriprasert said her efforts to get her birth records changed in her native Thailand continued to fail.

Jirarat Teachasriprasert aka Jim Sarah, says her niece Kwanchanok Taechasriprasert is like a daughter to her. Photo / Jason Oxenham

Teachasriprasert said she was told that New Zealand would be a welcoming place for transgender people and she sought refuge here with her sister and her sister’s daughter in 1997.

Her niece, Kwanchanok Taechasriprasert, whom she regards as her own daughter, was 7 months old at the time.

“What people say about New Zealand is true, it is paradise. People were friendly and most were not judgmental. I felt this was a place I could call home,” she said.

The trio came on tourist visas and later applied for refugee status – but only Teachasriprasert’s application got approved.

“It was heartbreaking when my sister and niece had to go back to Thailand,” she said.

Two years later Teachasriprasert found love and married a New Zealander.

For the first time, imprinted on her marriage certificate, Teachasriprasert was a “Ms” and not a “Mr”.

Jirarat Teachasriprasert says getting a New Zealand passport that acknowledges her as female would make her feel complete. Photo / Jason Oxenham

“That day, I think I fell in love with New Zealand even more because it is the first place that officially recognised me for who I am – a woman,” Teachasriprasert said.

Teachasriprasert ran a Thai takeaway business called Bobby Takeaway on Karangahape Rd, which was later changed to Chang Nadpob.

Today, the Family Bar and Club stands on the site where her old takeaway shop used to be.

Her marriage broke up after four years and Teachasriprasert said she had been longing to have family around again.

She was thrilled when her niece Kwanchanok, now 27, said she wanted to return to live in New Zealand.

“I was so excited when KC [Kwanchanok’s nickname] arrived two years ago, and felt so proud when she did so well in her studies,” Teachasriprasert said.

She was offered a job at a rest home in Epsom, but just as she thought she was on track to getting a work visa, her application was stalled because Immigration New Zealand revoked the accreditation of her would-be employers.

“That was just so unfair, my niece failed to get a visa due to no fault of her own,” Teachasriprasert said.

“My life has always been filled with challenges and obstacles, this is just another one and I will fight for my niece to stay.”