MONEYGAME explores the intersection of sexuality, labor, and power within the global economies of erotic performance.
MONEYGAME: Thailand is part of Elizabeth Waterman’s ongoing photographic project MONEYGAME, a long-term examination of strip club culture and sex work economies around the world. Expanding the series beyond the United States, the Thailand chapter documents transgender sex workers and performers in the nightlife districts of Bangkok and Pattaya.
Photographed primarily on analog film, the portraits were created through close collaboration with the subjects, many of whom navigate significant legal and social barriers in Thai society. Despite Thailand’s global reputation for gender fluidity and nightlife tourism, transgender individuals—often referred to as “Ladyboys”—frequently face restrictions that limit access to employment outside the entertainment and sex industries.
Through intimate portraiture, MONEYGAME: Thailand moves beyond spectacle to reveal the resilience, ambition, and humanity of its subjects, situating their lives within broader conversations about gender identity, labor, and globalized economies of desire.
The project has already received international press coverage, including The Advocate, and is currently in development as a photography monograph scheduled for publication in 2028.
