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A new Thai airline is hiring transsexuals as flight attendants, aiming at a unique identity to set itself apart from competitors as it sets out for the skies.

Known as 'katoeys' or 'ladyboys,' transgenders and transsexuals have greater visibility in Thailand than in many other nations, holding mainstream jobs in a variety of fields.

They are especially common in cosmetics shops or health stores, which almost always have a ladyboy shop assistant.

 

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In demand: Four transsexual flight attendants were chosen by new airline PC Air after hundreds applied for the positions

PC Air, a charter airline set to start operations on Asian routes in April, originally planned only to hire male and female flight attendants.

But it changed its mind after receiving more than 100 job applications from transvestites and transsexuals.

Four were chosen, along with 19 female and 7 male flight attendants.

While the airline strives for equality, PC Air president Peter Chan, who chooses the transsexual cabin crew himself, said he needed to spend longer with interviews for such applicants.

'For male flight attendants, if I don't want to hire them, it's because of their attitude or their characters, like the way they walk and smile.

'When I knew that I got this job, I burst into tears because I'm very happy,' said 24-year-old Chayathisa Nakmai.

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Instruction: PC Air flight attendants watch during a make-up training session in Bangkok

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Training: Officials from PC Air said it had to be spend all day interview transsexual applications to make sure they had 'feminine character'

'I had sent many applications to different airlines.'

The airline said that the qualifications for the ladyboy flight attendants were the same as for female flight attendants, with the additional provisos that they be like women in how they walk and talk, and have a feminine voice and the right attitude.

Though there is very little discrimination against ladyboys in Thailand, they are not officially recognised as women and their identification cards will always say 'male'.

'For female flight attendants, if they have no patience and their character does not qualify, we won't hire them,' he added.

'For transsexuals, we can't just spend five or 10 minutes with them, we have to spend the whole day with them to make sure they have feminine characters.'

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Taking off: The new airline will initially fly to South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and China

The airline said it may hire more flight attendants from the 'third gender' in the future since the Department of Civil Aviation has no objections.

Though excited by the opportunity, the transsexual flight attendants said they were aware they needed to prove themselves.

'People will keep their eyes on us... There will be more pressure,' said Dissanai Chitpraphachin, 23, who was crowned as Thailand's most beautiful transvestite in 2007.

'We have to prepare ourselves more than the women.'..

The airline is initially set to fly to South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and China.


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CAIRO – Osama bin Laden claimed responsibility for the attempt to bomb a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas in a new audio message released Sunday threatening more attacks on the United States. A senior U.S. intelligence official in Washington said there is "no evidence whatsoever" that bin Laden had any involvement on the Christmas Day attack — or even knew about it beforehand. The message suggests the al-Qaida leader wants to appear in direct command of the terrorist group's many affiliates around the world at a time when some analysts have suggested he is mostly a figurehead. In the minute-long recording carried by Al-Jazeera Arabic news channel, bin Laden addressed President Barack Obama saying the Christmas attack was meant to send a message similar to that of the Sept. 11 attacks. "The message delivered to you through the plane of the heroic warrior Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was a confirmation of the previous messages sent by the heroes of the Sept. 11," he said. "America will never dream of security unless we will have it in reality in Palestine," he added. "God willing, our raids on you will continue as long as your support for the Israelis continues." On Christmas Day, Nigerian Abdulmutallab attempted to blow up his Northwest Airlines flight as it approached Detroit Metro Airport. But the explosive powder he was hiding in his underwear failed to detonate. He told federal agents shortly afterward that he had been trained and given the explosives by al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, an al-Qaida affiliate in Yemen. The U.S. intelligence official said the Yemen-based group is linked with the central al-Qaida group that bin Laden heads and recent intelligence indicates there are ongoing contacts between al-Qaida in Yemen and Pakistan. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information. Bin Laden's message, coming long after AQAP gave its own claim of responsibility, appears to be an effort on his part to stay relevant, said Rohan Gunaratna, author of "Inside Al Qaeda: Global Network of Terror." "The training and the definition of the attack was by the local leaders of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, so in many ways you can say bin Laden is exploiting for his benefit this particular attack," he said. "Bin Laden still wants to claim leadership for the global jihad movement." Of all the various offshoots and branches of al-Qaida around the world, Gunaratna said the group in Yemen is one of the closest to bin Laden since it is made up of bodyguards and associates of the organization's top ideologues. Yemen is bin Laden's ancestral homeland. "Today the operational relationship has somewhat suffered, but the ideological relationship is very strong and that is why bin Laden claimed this attack," Gunaratna said. Two of the group's top members were former detainees released in November 2007 from the U.S. military prison Guantanamo Bay. Since the Christmas Day attempt, the Yemeni government, at the U.S.'s urging has stepped up its attacks on the group's hideouts in the rugged country's remote hinterland. Analysts have long debated how much control bin Laden, who is believed to be somewhere in Afghanistan-Pakistan border region, really has over the various organizations using his group's name. The Yemen-based group, however, has closer ties than most to bin Laden and his key lieutenants, many having once been their bodyguards. There was no way to confirm the voice on the audio message was actually that of bin Laden, but it resembled previous recordings attributed to him. The U.S. says it can't immediately authenticate the message but White House adviser David Axelrod told CNN's "State of the Union" that whatever the source, the message "contains the same hollow justification for the mass slaughter of innocents." In the past year, bin Laden's messages have concentrated heavily on the situation of the Palestinians in attempt to rally support from Muslims around the world. Some analysts say bin Laden is focusing on the close U.S.-Israeli relationship because he is worried about Obama's popularity across the Middle East with his promises to withdraw from Iraq and because his father was a Muslim from the African nation of Kenya. The plight of the Palestinians, especially in the blockaded Gaza Strip where 1,400 were killed in an Israeli offensive a year ago, angers many in the Arab world. "The Palestinian conflict was never part of the al-Qaida original mandate, but Osama is clearly exploiting it," Gunaratna said. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Andy David dismissed the latest al-Qaida message and its attempt to link Israel with attacks on the U.S. "This is nothing new. He has said this before," he said. "Terrorists always look for absurd excuses for their despicable deeds." The last public message from bin Laden appears to have been on Sept. 26, when he demanded that European countries pull their troops out of Afghanistan. The order came in an audiotape that also warned of "retaliation" against nations that are allied with the United States in fighting the war. Listen here
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