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To: Bobby Yellin who wrote (5405)	1/8/1998 7:59:00 AM
From: Dwight Taylor	Respond to of 116764

The following is an excellent metaphor for the Asian crisis. All dressed up and no where to go. BANGKOK (Reuters) - Life is no longer a cabaret for a former transvestite beauty queen, who blames Thailand's flagging economy for forcing him to give up stage lights and high heels for a life of hard labor. The sweat pouring down his face, washing away his makeup, is hard proof that Thuanchai Intaraprasit is facing the toughest time in his life. Thuanchai, alias Looknam, 22, won a gay beauty contest dressed as a woman only last year. He said he always dreamed that his beauty would bring him an easy life as an entertainer, beautician or dressmaker. But Thailand's badly faltering economy has instead forced him to work as a coolie, lugging rice to make ends meet. "I used to work at a cabaret show, but the group disbanded after the economy slowed down," Thuanchai told Reuters on Wednesday after dropping a 220-pound sack of rice from his shoulder. Thuanchai previously was a salesman and costume assistant for a cabaret show after he won the beauty contest last year. "I never thought that life would become this tough," said the red-lipsticked Thuanchai, whose long hair was carefully coifed for his day of loading rice at a warehouse alongside hundreds of other men. Thuanchai said he now earns about 300 to 400 baht ($5.70-$7.60) a day for eight hours work. His dream is to save enough money to be able to afford breast implants. "Beauty is very important for every woman, so if I save enough money I would have plastic surgery to make myself even more beautiful," Thuanchai said.