In the spotlight

Thai kickboxing champion Nong Toom's dream finally came true in 1999. That year Toom, 18, underwent a sex-change operation and became a girl.

'You cannot choose how you are born, but you can choose how you want to be and make society accept you the way you are,' she said in an interview with Asia Times.

Toom, originally named Parinya Charoenphol, was born to a poor family of nomads. He took up Thai boxing when he was 12. Before his big match in Bangkok in 1998 he had won 20 out of 22 professional fights. Wearing make-up and showing off his forceful kicks and uppercuts, he soon became a celebrity.

On December 5, 1999, Toom had the operation. His dream came true, but he was forced to give up boxing - in Thailand, women are barred from professional boxing.

Toom is now working as a model and actress in Bangkok, and she was a consultant to the film Beautiful Boxer, which was based on her life.

'Whatever I do next, it will be based on my intention to be a good person,' she said.