Meet Hen Thai of West Hollywood

Today we’d like to introduce you to Hen Thai.

Hi Hen, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Long story short, I was the gayest little boy. I loved playing in my mom’s makeup and my sister’s clothes. When I was 11 years old, I came out of the closet and started cross-dressing with Party City wigs shortly after. Throughout high school, I did competitive cheerleading, enrolled in dance classes, and seriously started learning how to do makeup on myself and my girl friends. I even went to middle and high school in full drag.

When I moved to LA, I wanted to be a content creator/beauty influencer. I even considered doing drag. When my father passed away when I was 19, I switched gears and focused on getting my Bachelor’s in Business, primarily focusing on marketing and economics. While in college, I worked at Sephora for 5 years and continued to develop my makeup artistry skills. After graduating and working at an entertainment advertising firm for a year, our company took us to Las Vegas where I watch The Rupaul’s Drag Race live show with my partner. During the show, my partner turns to me and say’s “yeah, you can definitely do this”, and he was right. I could do it and with my background in cheerleading, dance, makeup, and even my marketing degree, it felt like it was finally time for me to give this drag thing a go.

I’ve been doing drag officially as Hen Thai for exactly 3 years in January 2026. I’ve lost and won local competitions, starred in a political YouTube Series called Last Week Was A Drag, hosted the first ever Queer Thai, Lao, and Cambodian New Year in San Diego, and produced The Hen House Supper Club. This is really just the beginning for me. I developed some hard skills throughout my life that has prepared me to excel in drag and I am finally putting all of it to use. I still work my day job at the same advertising agency but I feel so lucky to have the flexibility, resources, and capacity to share my art in Los Angeles.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The biggest obstacle with drag is the financial burden it can put on you. I used to regret not taking my drag seriously when I first moved to LA. I see these young queens who are barely 21 living out their fantasy, and I’m just so impressed because how do they do it? When my father passed away, it really shook my reality. I grew up thinking I wouldn’t even graduate high school, let alone University. I hit rock bottom and learned some really intense life lessons at a young age. I knew I needed financial stability if I wanted to live the lifestyle that I wanted.

Now that I finally have health insurance, a steady income, and relative job security, I can finally afford to do drag. Now, I don’t have endless funds for drag, but at least my basic needs are met. The unfortunate reality is that a lot of local drag queens and artists in general are in survival mode. Looking back, I am glad I waited because now, at the ripe age of 27, I feel competent, confident, and fully ready to pursue my dreams without having to worry about how I’m going to feed myself or if I can pay my bills that month.

Besides the financial struggle of being a drag artist, I have had a relatively smooth road once I actually started. When I stepped onto the scene and proved myself in a few local competitions, I gained the respect of my peers and have been consistently booked over the last two years. The biggest struggle now is being disciplined and creating art consistently without getting in my head about perfection. This is something I’m really focusing on in the New Year, and I’m so excited for the projects I have planned for 2026.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Hen Thai is a drag artist, writer, producer, food lover, activist, and community builder.

My Drag name has several overlapping cultural significances to me. Hen Thai is a pun for explicit Japanese manga and anime. As a child, I grew up watching anime in the morning. The animation style, power structures, world-building, character development, and often adult themes have always been so captivating to me, even as an adult. Hen Thai is also inspired by my relationship with my ethnicity. Whenever I tell someone I’m Lao, often unrecognizable to the average person, I would describe Laos’ proximity to Thailand and Thai culture. Laos and Thailand have had bilateral relations and express similar linguistic and cultural similarities. My parents are from the capital city of Laos, Vientiane, which is located east of the Mekong River, bordering Thailand. During the Lao Civil War, also known as the Secret War, my parents escaped to a Thai refugee camp where they met and later immigrated to Hawaii.

I like to describe my drag aesthetic as “distorted beauty”, exaggerating societal pressures on beauty and the hyper sexualization of women. Redefining and reclaiming what it means to be beautiful with a dark and sometimes taboo twist. I am inspired by the glamorous pageant drag I grew up watching in the Hawaii drag scene. Marina Del Rey, Princess, Sasha Colby, Bucky Stunguns, and so many Hawaii drag icons have shaped the foundation of my drag style. I am a history nerd, and the pageant-style of drag has paved the way for so many queens before me. This is my way of honoring that legacy despite not being an official pageant queen myself. I take the glamorous aesthetic and put it through my lens, which consists of Thai/Lao culture, anime/hentai, pop stars, lady boys, and a touch of cyberpunk.

I am most proud of my latest drag venture, The Hen House Supper Club. I was inspired by the cookouts I attended in Hawaii and the dinners I had with my extended family. We shared our resources and meals every night. It is culturally important for us to eat as a whole family, but also vital to our survival. This is a way for me to recreate that kind of community in Los Angeles with my queer chosen family and friends. We had an incredible and successful first event, and I can not wait to take my community on this culinary journey to explore the world of Southeast Asian cuisines. The Hen House Supper Club is a love letter to my family, my culture, my community, and to myself. Food is my love language, and I am showing love to my community the best way I know how.

Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
Yes! If you loved my story and you’re interested in my drag please keep an eye out for my new YouTube Channel, HenThaiTV! I will be posting beauty, food, and lifestyle videos once per month. I will also be starting my Substack where I will write personal essays about myself, sociopolitcal comentary, beauty, food, and more! I am in the beginning stages of creating the Hen Thai digital multiverse. Using long-form content like YouTube and Substack to welcome people into my mind, heart, and soul. I have a lot of fun content planned but also I have a lot of really important things to say and I want to use my platform for both entertainment and education. We need public, visible, authentic, and radical queer art during these troubling times and Mother Hen is here to serve you everything you need and more!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://substack.com/@henthaiqueen?
• Instagram: henthaiqueen
• Twitter: henthaiqueen
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@henthaitv
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@henthaiqueen69

Image Credits
@yuqstudis
@bohennearreaux