Spurred on by its wide availability and cheap price-tag, transsexual people are heading East for ‘gender reasssigment’ surgery. Phuket has emerged as the centre of Thailand’s booming body business, and it’s where we meet 46-year-old transsexual Robyn Perkins. Here, surrounded by the pictures of successful Thai lady-boys, is where he’s chosen to end his double life. “It’s not a superman transformation [like] putting on a costume, I’ve been a woman for 46 years…I’ve always been a bit feminine.” We follow Robyn through the surgery, exploring the psychology involved. For Robyn, the operation is a success, and a bargain costing a third of the equivalent procedure in the US. Yet in this unregulated surgical industry, there have been disastrous consequences for many. The victims of back-street operators arrive at reputable clinics with misshapen breasts stuffed with water-filled condoms, crooked smiles and misshapen bottoms. A high-society wife recently died after a bungled face-lift. Unregulated surgery in Phuket comes with risk.

Produced by ABC Australia