{{short description|Thai politician}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = <!-- use common name/article title --> | image = ธัญญ์วาริน สุขะพิสิษฐ์ สัมภาษณ์.jpg | alt = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software --> | caption = Tanwarin in 2019 | native_name = {{nobold|ธัญญ์วาริน สุขะพิสิษฐ์}} | native_name_lang = th | birth_name = <!-- only use if different from name --> | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1973|10|23}} | birth_place = Nakhon Ratchasima Province, Thailand | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (DEATH date then BIRTH date) --> | death_place = | party = Move Forward Party<ref>{{cite news |title=Constitutional Court disqualifies Move Forward Party MP over media shares |url=https://prachatai.com/english/node/8884 |access-date=10 September 2021 |work=Prachatai English |language=en}}</ref> | other_party = Future Forward Party (2018–2020) | other_names = | occupation = {{hlist|Filmmaker|politician}} | years_active = | known_for = | notable_works = | office = Member of the House of Representatives<br> for the Future Forward Party List | term_start = 24 March 2019 | term_end = 28 October 2020 }}
'''Tanwarin Sukkhapisit''' ({{Langx|th|ธัญญ์วาริน สุขะพิสิษฐ์}}, {{RTGS|''Thanwarin Sukkhaphisit''}}, {{IPA|th|tʰān.wāː.rīn sùk.kʰà.pʰí.sìt}}) is a Thai filmmaker and politician. They are known for directing the film ''Insects in the Backyard''. Tanwarin identifies as kathoey, and uses they/them pronouns. In the 2019 Thai general election, they were elected to the Thai parliament representing the Future Forward Party. and became the first ever openly transgender member of parliament in Thailand's House of Representatives.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Yee|first=Tan Hui|date=Mar 30, 2019|title=I am intelligent, capable, and a katoey: Thailand's first transgender MP|url=https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/i-am-intelligent-capable-and-a-katoey-thailands-first-transgender-mp|website=The Straits Times}}</ref><ref name="guardian-8apr2019">{{cite news|last1=Ellis-Petersen|first1=Hannah|date=April 8, 2019|title='I am not here to entertain': meet Thailand's first transgender MP|newspaper=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/06/i-am-not-here-to-entertain-meet-thailands-first-transgender-mp|access-date=April 8, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-thailand-lgbt-election/from-movies-to-marriage-first-thai-transgender-mp-wants-change-idUSKCN1RT1DL|title=From movies to marriage, first Thai transgender MP wants change|last1=Chandran|first1=Rina|date=2019-04-17|access-date=2019-08-25|publisher=Thomson Reuters Foundation|work=Reuters}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2019/03/25/thailand-first-transgender-mp-tanwarin-sukkhapisit/|title=Thailand elects first transgender MP Tanwarin Sukkhapisit|last=Lotto Perslo|first=Sofia|date=2019-03-25|website=www.pinknews.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/1654436/the-lgbt-advocate-set-to-be-an-mp|title=The LGBT advocate set to be an MP|last=Boonlert|first=Thana|date=2019-04-01|website=Bangkok Post|access-date=2019-04-02}}</ref>
== Biography == Tanwarin was born on October 23, 1973, in the Nakhon Ratchasima province. They began publicly living as a woman at 17.<ref name="guardian-8apr2019" /> They attended Khon Kaen University, where they noted a large presence of cross-dressers and drag-queen shows. While enrolled, they started directing and acting for college plays while completing their graduate studies in Mass Communication.<ref name=":6">{{Cite news |last=Shankar |first=Lekha J. |date=2012-08-01 |title=Director with a difference |url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/director-with-a-difference/article3707800.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140524010226/https://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/director-with-a-difference/article3707800.ece |archive-date=2014-05-24 |access-date=2025-10-06 |work=The Hindu |language=en}}</ref> They moved to Bangkok to pursue work in the entertainment industry but was initially unsuccessful.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The LGBT advocate set to be an MP |url=https://www.bangkokpost.com/life/social-and-lifestyle/1654436/the-lgbt-advocate-set-to-be-an-mp |access-date=2025-10-07 |website=Bangkok Post}}</ref> Tanwarin returned to Korat to work as an English teacher for seven years, and played their first role as a kathoey character on a show that was shortly pulled off air.<ref name=":6" /> Their first short film that they made, "The Ring", received attention that inspired them to continue their filmmaking career. Tanwarin worked as a waiter for nearly 10 years in order to remain in Bangkok.<ref name=":6" />
== Career ==
=== Film career === Tanwarin directed and starred in their first feature film, ''Insects in the Backyard,'' released in 2010. The movie was made with a budget of less than 500,000 Thai baht. The story revolves around the troubled lives of a family of siblings Jenny and Johnny, who are raised by their kathoey sibling/mother Tanya. Tanwarin serves to trouble typical notions of kinship and family, as well as explore themes of gender-nonconformity.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Chen |first=Jian Neo |title=Trans Exploits: Trans of Color Cultures and Technologies in Movement |date=2019 |publisher=Duke University Press |isbn=978-1-4780-0233-8 |series=ANIMA: Critical Race Studies Otherwise |location=Durham}}</ref>
''Insects in the Backyard'' was banned by Thailand's Ministry of Culture from being screened for "immoral and pornographic content".<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Itthipongmaetee |first=Chayanit |last2=Reporter |first2=Staff |date=2017-09-29 |title=Banned 'Insects' to Show 7 Years Later Sans Gay Sex Scene |url=https://www.khaosodenglish.com/life/arts/2017/09/29/banned-insects-show-7-years-later-sans-gay-sex-scene/ |access-date=2025-10-06 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":4" /> Despite its banning, the film was screened at the Bangkok 2010 International Film Festival. It also received attention at international film festivals, such as the 2010 Vancouver International Film Festival.<ref name=":4" /> In response to the film's banning, a mock funeral was held in protest which brought around 50 attendees.<ref>{{Cite news |date=Dec 20, 2010 |title=Thailand: Mock funeral held for banned film |work=Asia News Monitor |publisher=Thai News Service Group}}</ref> Sukkhapisit founded their own independent film company, Amfine Productions, in response to the banning.<ref name=":4" />
Tanwarin continued to fight the legal ruling. In 2015, five years after the initial ban, the Administrative Court ruled to uphold the ban, referencing a three-second sex scene in which genitals are visible as the aforementioned pornography. The film was eventually screened for the first time in Thailand in 2017, with said scene removed.<ref name=":5" />
=== Political career === Years after their film banning, Tanwarin was inspired to enter politics to campaign for LGBTQ+ rights, and became the first transgender MP in Thailand.
At their first appearance in parliament, Tanwarin, alongside other newly elected LGBTQ+ members of parliament, appeared in brightly coloured outfits as a statement against the conservative politicians and government.<ref>{{Cite web |last=OPENLY |title=Thailand's LGBT+ lawmakers force parliament dress-code rethink |url=https://www.openlynews.com/i/?id=913dbf69-73f8-419e-9138-aec46f26061d |access-date=2025-10-06 |website=OPENLY}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Schultz |first=Stefan |date=2019-06-14 |title=Thailand: Confronting Reality in a Transgender Paradise |url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/globalsocieties/thailand-confronting-reality-in-a-transgender-paradise-a-1272256.html |access-date=2025-10-06 |work=Der Spiegel |language=en |issn=2195-1349}}</ref>
In October 2020, the Constitutional Court of Thailand removed Tanwarin from power, finding them guilty of rules barring lawmakers from owning stock in media companies.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Thanthong-Knight|first=Randy|date=October 28, 2020|title=Thai Court Disqualifies Opposition Lawmaker in Media Shares Case|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-10-28/thai-court-disqualifies-opposition-lawmaker-in-media-shares-case|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201105070145/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-10-28/thai-court-disqualifies-opposition-lawmaker-in-media-shares-case|archive-date=November 5, 2020|website=Bloomberg}}</ref> Tanwarin's removal has been tied to a broader crackdown on Thailand's pro-democracy movement,<ref>{{Cite web|date=October 28, 2020|title=Thailand's first transgender MP dismissed from parliament|url=https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/thailands-first-transgender-mp-dismissed-from-parliament|website=AFP via The Straits Times}}</ref> with one commentator in the ''Bangkok Post'' writing that they were "unjustly removed" in a "huge blow to the Thai LGBTI community".<ref>{{Cite news|last=Mahavongtrakul|first=Melalin|date=November 30, 2020|title=Light flickers in US, fades in Thailand|website=Bangkok Post|url=https://www.bangkokpost.com/life/social-and-lifestyle/2027507/light-flickers-in-us-fades-in-thailand}}</ref>
== Filmography ==
=== Director ===
* ''Still'' (2010) * ''Insects in the Backyard'' (2010) * ''Hug na Sarakham'' (2011) * ''It Gets Better'' (2012) * ''Fin Sugoi'' (2014) * ''Threesome'' (2014) * ''Keep Running. Zombie Soldier!'' (2015) * ''Red Wine in the Dark Night'' (2015) * ''A Gas Station'' (2016) * ''Sanaeha Maya'' (2018) * ''Irresistible'' (2021) * ''The War of Flowers'' (2022) * ''The Eclipse'' (2022) * ''609 Bedtime Story'' (2022) * ''Jenny AM/PM'' (2022) * ''Moments of Love'' (2023) * ''Our Skyy 2'' (2023) * ''Club Friday 15: Moments & Memories'' (2023) * ''Club Friday 16: Hot Love Issue'' (2024) * ''Wandee Goodday'' (2024) * ''The Rebound'' (2024) * ''Club Friday 17: The Theory of Love'' (2025)
=== Writer ===
* ''Insects in the Backyard'' (2010) * ''Keep Running. Zombie Soldier!'' (2015) * ''Red Wine in the Dark Night'' (2015) * ''A Gas Station'' (2016) * ''Napat'' (2021)
=== Producer ===
* ''Judgement Island'' (2015) * ''Red Wine in the Dark Night'' (2015) * ''A Gas Station'' (2016) * ''Present Perfect'' (2017) * ''609 Bedtime Story'' (2022–2023) * ''Our Skyy 2'' (2023)
=== Actress ===
* ''The Sperm'' (2007) * ''Insects in the Backyard'' (2010) * ''Tai Hong 2'' (2014) * ''Summer to Winter'' (2014) * ''Bong Srolanh Oun'' (2015) * ''Love Next Door 2'' (2015) * ''The Eclipse'' (2022) * ''Our Skyy 2'' (2023) * ''Wandee Goodday'' (2024) * ''The Rebound'' (2024)
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb name|nm2565292}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sukkhapisit, Tanwarin}} Category:1973 births Tanwarin Sukkhapisit Tanwarin Sukkhapisit Category:LGBTQ legislators Tanwarin Sukkhapisit Category:Living people Tanwarin Sukkhapisit Tanwarin Sukkhapisit Tanwarin Sukkhapisit Category:Transgender politicians Category:Transgender screenwriters Category:Transgender non-binary people Category:Non-binary directors Category:Non-binary politicians Category:Non-binary screenwriters Tanwarin Sukkhapisit Tanwarin Sukkhapisit Category:LGBTQ film directors Tanwarin Sukkhapisit Tanwarin Sukkhapisit Tanwarin Sukkhapisit