Women in Thailand
 A female nurse in Thailand | |
| Gender Inequality Index[1] | |
|---|---|
| Value | 0.360 (2012) |
| Rank | 66th out of 148 |
| Maternal mortality (per 100,000) | 48 (2010) |
| Women in parliament | 15.7% (2012) |
| Females over 25 with secondary education | 29.0% (2010) |
| Women in labour force | 63.8% (2011) |
| Global Gender Gap Index[2] | |
| Value | 0.6928 (2013) |
| Rank | 65th out of 136 |
| Women in society |
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Popular culture |
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Women in Thailand were among the first women in Asia who were granted the right to vote in 1932. However, they are still underrepresented in Thai politics.[3][4] The roles of women in Thailand's national development has not yet been fully established. Factors that affect women's participation in the socio-economic field include "inadequate gender awareness in the policy and planning process" and social stereotyping.[5]
Politics
Despite of the absence of legal limitations to women participating in the politic arena of Thailand, the factors that impeded the rise of women in political activities include structural barriers, cultural impediments, lower educational attainments, lower socio-economic status,[5][6] and power-sharing issues with the opposite sex.[5] It was only on June 5, 1949 that Orapin Chaiyakan became the first Thai woman to be elected to hold a post in the House of Representatives[3] of the National Assembly of the Kingdom of Thailand.[4]
Business
In the realm of entrepreneurship, Thailand’s female population comprised 47% of the country’s workforce, which makes up the highest percentage of working women in the region of the Asia-Pacific. However, these women are also confronted by hiring discrimination and gender inequality in relation to wages because of being "concentrated in lower-paying jobs".[5][6] In relation to women’s welfare, somen women of Thailand are prone to becoming victims of spousal or marital rape, human trafficking, prostitution, and other forms of domestic abuse and sex crimes.[5][6]
Marriage
According to the National Statistical Office of Thailand, female Thais marry at an earlier age than male Thais, and that 24% of Thai households have women identified as "heads of households".[5] In 2007, The New York Times reported that after the Vietnam War, Thailand became the main "rest and recreation" and "sex tourism" destination of male foreigners, resulting to some marriage arrangements with Thai women. Among those who establish such marriage arrangements are men from Europe and the United States seeking companionship and economic relief particularly during retirement age. The Thai women, on the other hand, enter into the marriage arrangements in order to redeem themselves from their former life as prostitutes, from abandonment by former partners, and as an escape from "poverty and unhappiness", but not all Thai women who entered into this type of marriage were former prostitutes.[7]
See also
- Thai people
- Sex trafficking of women and children in Thailand
- Thailand women's national handball team
- Thailand women's national rugby union team
- Thailand women's national football team
- Thailand national women's cricket team
- Thailand women's national volleyball team
References
- ↑ "Human Development Report". United Nations Development Programme. 2013. p. 156.
- ↑ "The Global Gender Gap Report 2013". World Economic Forum. pp. 12–13.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Sopchokchai, Orapin. Female Members of Parliament, Women's Political Participation at the National Level, Women's Political Participation in Thailand, TDRI Quarterly Review, Vol. 13, No. 4, December 1998, pp. 11-20
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Iwanaga, Kazuki. Women in Politics in Thailand, Working Paper No. 14, Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund University, Sweden, 2005
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Key Figures, Gender Statistics, Social Statistics Division, National Statistical Office, Bangkok.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Women's rights situation in Thailand
- ↑ Bernstein, Richard. Variations on a theme: Thai women and foreign husbands, Letter from Thailand, Asia-Pacific, The New York Times, August 12, 2007
Further readings
- Macan-Markar, Marwaan. Battered Women, No Longer Alone, Rights-Thailand, ipsnews.net, November 24, 2005
- Praparnun, Yada Gender Sensitivity & Accountability in Thai Government Policy Formulation, Implementation & Evaluation from an Historical Perspective, Paper for presentation at the IAFFE 2009 conference in Boston, USA
External links
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