Associated Press Sunday, January 22, 2006 / 10:54 AM

SINGAPORE -- A court has spared a Thai transsexual drug dealer from caning because Singaporean law does not allow women to be sentenced to that punishment, a newspaper reported Friday.

Thai prostitute Mongkon Pusuwan, who underwent a sex change from male to female a decade ago, was instead sentenced on Wednesday to six years in jail after a medical report concluded that she was a woman, The Straits Times reported.

District Judge Bala Reddy handed down the sentence after the long-haired Mongkon, 37, pleaded guilty to charges including trafficking in cocaine and tablets containing ketamine, the report said.

The amount of drugs in her possession was too small for her to qualify for Singapore's mandatory death penalty for some drug cases.

Thailand -- Thursday, August 4, 2005 / 03:54 PM

A leading Thai boxer has been fined for allowing nude photos of himself to be published in a magazine targeted to gay men, according to press reports.

Sirimongkol Singwancha was found guilty of allowing pornographic pictures of himself to be taken and published in Thai magazine Heat, according to the Fridae.com Web site.
The magazine is aimed at gay men and features naked, full-frontal images.

The report claims the champion boxer has had his fine and jail term reduced because he apparently cooperated with local police.

He was due to spend six months in jail for the incident, but his sentence was suspended for two years, during which time he must maintain "good behavior." His fine was reduced to Bt4,000 (approximately $100).

He was reportedly paid Bt200,000 (approximately $4,800) for the pictures, which have become well-known among Thailand's gay community. The move comes as Thailand pushes a clamp-down on porn -- both in print and online.