Queen of the G Spot

Anyone who’s been to one of G Spot Entertainment’s uproarious parties knows that the highlight of the night is always the camp, witty drag show that Pangina Heals brings to the proceedings.
A relative newcomer to the Bangkok drag scene, Pangina invariably creates a stir with her risque monologues in English and Thai and, on rare occasions at least, some of the dance spectacle called “waacking”.
Peel away the frocks, wigs and makeup, though, and you find a neat and tidy 27-year-old Taiwanese-Thai man known to his parents as Panpan Nakprasert.
 The Samut Prakan native is every bit as smart as his onstage persona suggests, having earned a degree in fine arts at the University of California Los Angeles, along with a truckload of life experiences around the globe.
We wanted to know how Panpan became Pangina and what exactly the difference is between the two.

Tell us about your alternate identity.
Pangina is a combination of “Panpan” and “vagina” – Panpan with a vagina. I also like to think it comes from Pangaea, the name of the earth’s original single continent. I like to think that people are people regardless of our differences, and through my act I try to bring everyone together, to be one again.
As for my surname, Heals, it’s actually about how I try to “heal” people, to make them feel better, with my drag performance. It could also be “heels” – my favourite footwear!

Your drag persona only came into full bloom after you returned from LA.
At UCLA there were courses like Pop Music in Gay Culture, Lesbian Art, a class about Madonna – weird, unconventional things like that – which was a real eye-opener for me. Some of my friends are so openly gay – they shave their leg, dress up, get nose jobs – and they never, ever apologise for being different. One thing that I love about my experience in the US is that I learned to love myself the way I am, and never feel that I owe anyone an apology for being me.
I also started dancing hip-hop, and continued that for about three years, but at the time I never thought I’d one day become a drag artist.

How did you come out to your parents?
It was very easy: I had a boyfriend and often brought him home to stay overnight, and then I told them he actually was my boyfriend, not just a friend. There, problem solved!

Just like that?
Oh, yes. If you don’t think it’s an issue and don’t treat it like a problem, why would it be a problem? If you start your coming out with something like, “Mum, I’m so sorry I have to tell you something,” you’re treating your sexuality like there’s something wrong, like you’ve made a bad choice in life. It’s a very emotional experience, I know, but if you don’t love and accept yourself, how could you expect someone else to love you the way you are?

When did you start doing drag?
It was at a Lady Gaga dance contest at Fortune Town in 2010. I dressed up like Lady Gaga and lip-synched and danced to “Paparazzi”, and I won! The prize was a one-week trip to New York. I walked down the street in New York dressed like Lady Gaga and a lot of people came up to take pictures with me. They were having fun, and most importantly I was having fun. When I returned, I was a more confident me, and that I realised that drag was my calling.

Did you worry that people might consider it a step down for an art graduate from a famous university?
Thai society treats performing artists with much less respect than it does artists who paint and sculpt. That’s so full of shit. Why would one occupation be more respectable than another? We all aim to make the world a better place in our own different ways. You could paint a masterpiece. Me, I’m doing drag.
I decided to stop doing art completely about two years ago after a joint exhibition that was just full of pretention and insincerity. People with higher art education are idolised, which to me is so stupid.

Most Thai drag queens are lip-syncing songs – you do waacking. What is that, anyway?
Waacking originated in LA in the 1970s among gay people watching drag shows. They’d get so lost in the performance that they’d use their hands, arms and upper bodies to “catch the rhythm” of the songs, a way of expressing their appreciation. It’s a dancing style that’s very universal, very unisex and very expressive. I learned it from Princess Lockeroo, a famous waack dancer who had a workshop here in Bangkok.

Where do you buy Pangina’s clothes?
She’s very surreal, very over the top – like a clown wearing heavy makeup and big eyelashes. Pagina’s quintessence is a blonde bitch. She’s witty, shady and she has foul mouth. She’s very American.
My drag clothes are a mix-and-match of everything I find in the markets. Some I custom-make and some are just pieces glue-gunned together.
My mum is so nice – she did this walk-in closet for me to organise all my drag stuff. She’s my big fan, you know!

Fans love the bitchy-yet-funny routine. Where did you learn that?
I learned a lot from watching the great comediennes like Kathy Griffin, Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes and Bianca Del Rio. I like their timing and how they deliver the punch lines.
When I host it keeps the crowd entertained. And it lets me be a bit controversial in my performance, because I deliver my message in a funny, light-hearted way.

How did the Bangkok drag scene welcome the newbie?
A lot of them were not every nice to me, to be honest. I went around asking for advice and they’d just turn me away, even discouraging me to pursue a career in drag. But there were two sisters who took me in and taught me all I needed to know. One is Ton from DJ Station and the other is Jai Sira. They’re like a drag family to me.

Is this really a career?
Yes, of course, if you have something different to offer. I think the drag scene – actually the whole homosexual scene – in Thailand is awesome. We have lots of talented drag performers and we have the prestigious Miss Tiffany pageant that treats transgender people as humans, not as a joke like some of the mass media do.
Whatever you’re pursuing as a career, if you do it with heart and not greed, you’ll be successful.

BOX
True to him/herself

Pangina Heals performs every Sunday night at Maggie Choo’s on Silom Road and at every party hosted by G Spot Entertainment.
Find out more at www.Facebook.com/PanginaHeals.