Maxine greets us from her small apartment, decorated with flowers and a poster of herself. “If you ask me whether I feel like this is Laos or China, I feel like I’m living in China. There are so many Chinese people here,” she says as she brushes her long hair. Maxine, whose real name is Tong Tha, moved from Bangkok to the Laotian town of Boten a few years ago. She works at the Eccellente Cabaret in Boten, dancing with dozens of other transgender Thai performers who sing in Thai, Lao, and Mandarin every night for busloads of Chinese tourists who come from across the border for a cheap holiday in Laos. The cabaret has now become a unique attraction and one of the last legacies of what was formerly a casino town.
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