Thai Transgender Model Denied Visit to Dubai Expo 2020

Thai Model’s Gender Identity Ends Dubai Expo 2020 Dreams Rude welcome, intrusive questions and denied entry – that’s the first hand ‘hospitality’ experienced by a Thai transgender model in the Expo 2020 hosting country – United Arab Emirates.

Dubai – the highest rated emirate known for its tourism and gold, isn’t all that glittery when looked at closely. There is a glitch in the system, which filters its tourists and visitors when they don’t fit their conservative mould. Like the Thai transgender model Rachaya Noppakaroon who was held up at the Dubai airport when she arrived in the emirate to attend the Expo 2020, despite having all the right documents, just because she identifies as a female while her passport states otherwise.

When Rachaya arrived at the Dubai International Airport with her 14-member team to put up a grand performance at a Muay Thai event at Expo 2020, intrusive interrogation and deportation were not what she expected to be greeted with.

As per the sad ordeal Rachaya shared through her Facebook post on March 16, she was well prepared to face the authorities and was equipped with the right kind of travel documents. For nine hours straight, Noppakaroon was interrogated by the airport authorities after she was forced to fly back to Thailand under a day’s time.

The UAE law doesn’t recognize transgender people and if presents oneself as anything other than the gender assigned at the time of birth is considered illegal in the country.

Rachaya cited “the reason is because I’m a woman, but I’m a man” that she was deported from the Arab nation where the existence of people from the LGBTQ+ community is faced with massive legal challenges. She added, “nightmare during which I’m fully awake”. She said so because from the time of landing at the Dubai airport, she was treated differently, i.e. made to sit in the men’s waiting area (documented in a photograph), subjected to uncomfortably intrusive questions such as, whether she would be able to bear children and if she had “done it all” (in terms of gender reassignment surgery) along with inquiry about the size of her breasts.

A similar case happened in 2016, when Canadian YouTuber Gigi Gorgeous – also a transgender – was denied entry into the so called liberal emirate of UAE, Dubai.

Despite going through a hurtful event, Noppakaroon didn’t fail to mention that there were also employees who were kind to her unlike the others, who weren’t, and that the good ones expressed sympathy for her and tried looking out for her safety throughout the event.

Rachaya also called out Thai authorities for not providing pathways for transgender people to get their passports changed, a change that she hopes to see come into works.