FES International Policy Analysis Unit

FES Journal - International Politics and Society

GENDER ISSUES - THAILAND

Under Thai Law men and women are regarded on equal terms. The new constitution of 1997 is of special interest for the women's liberation movement as generating equality was one of its central goals. In article 80 the state commits itself to promote gender equality. One third of the Extraordinary House Committee has to be constituted by women's organizations when women issues are on the agenda (art. 90). At the local elections on June 10th, 2000, women made up 8.4 per cent of the representatives voted into parliament, an increase of 2 per cent from the year before. This improvement is already considered to be the first success of the new constitution. Moreover, at the Bangkok Governor's elections on July 23rd, 2000, women ran for the office of Bangkok governor for the first time. While none of the women were elected, the fact that they were actually running for office was already considered a success. However, women are still strikingly under-represented on all political levels. Their representation in the Lower House amounts to a mere 4.8 per cent.

Women's labor employment rates are only slightly lower than men's employment (96.7 per cent for men and 95.4 per cent for women). Despite the general improvements since the Asian Crisis of 1997, the economic situation of women is still more difficult than that of men. They constitute the majority of the jobless and many of them are still forced to work in the informal sector without any kind of social insurance or benefits. Although the government's awareness concerning the informal sector issue has undoubtedly increased, no considerable successes have been achieved.

Women's access to educational institutions is comparatively good. However, there are still wide gaps between young men and women concerning graduate education. Male enrollment is considerably higher than female enrollment (12.8 per cent for women compared to 17.3 per cent for men.). Women also have a higher illiteracy rate (11.5 per cent) than men (7.3 per cent).

Thailand has a relatively strong women's liberation movement. The Gender and Development Research Institute (GDRI) aims at promoting democratic development by encouraging women's political participation, supporting women to take part in decision making at all levels, and reducing the gender gap in parliament. The Network of Women and Constitution is engaged in promoting women's participation in political reform and establishing networks between women's organizations all over the country.

To sum up, one may say that in Thailand there is new awareness of gender issues, even though the number of women in leading positions remains unacceptably low.

Women and Political Participation in Thailand - Suggested Readings

Gender Quotas in Thailand
in: Global Database of Quotas for Women, A joint project of International IDEA and Stockholm University (International IDEA Website)