Thai women's political participation (2000)
Although the women of Thailand are now more visible in politics, they still lack access to power structures that shape society. Their number in politics is still minimal. Without women’ s active participation in decision-making, the goal of equality, development and peace cannot be achieved. As the year 2000 marks a milestone in the history of Thai politics, with elections held at both national and local levels, women groups in Thailand have stepped up their campaign to encourage women’ s participation in politics.  Read more from this report.

Women's situation in Thailand (2000)
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). The triumph of elected women parliamentarians during the 2000 elections, which increased the number of seats held by women in the parliament to 8.4% of the total number of representatives, is being attributed to the new charter. Read more from this situationer prepared by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. BACK TO TOP

2000 Gender and Development: facts and figures in Thailand
Information and statistics on Thai women culled from the combined second and third report to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (July 1996) and Statistics on Women and men in Thailand, National Commission on Women's Affairs, May 1999.BACK TO TOP

Thailand Country Report Presented During the ESCAP Expert Group Meeting on the Regional Implementation of the BPFA (1999)
In implementing the 12 areas of concern from the Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA), Thailand has put special emphasis on the issues of gender equality, violence against women, the girl-child, human rights of women as well as trafficking in women and children. Read more about Thailand's progress in implementing the BPFA.BACK TO TOP

Taking up an unpopular advocacy (1999)
The Women in Politics Institute of Thailand, a pioneering women's NGO, has recognized the lack of attention given to the issue of women's political participation and has taken on the task of lobbying other NGOs, political parties and the government to address the issue of women's political participation. In this interview, Dr. Pusadee Tamthai, Director of WPIT, discusses how WIP aims to achieve its goal of equal participation of women and men in political decision-making.BACK TO TOP

Women in Thailand (1999)
The advancement of Thai women has been closely associated with the country’s economic progress. While the Thai economy was growing, women’s status improved substantially, especially in the areas of health and education. However, although women’s employment increased in quantity, conditions of work, relative pay, job security, and safety have, in many cases, been deteriorating. This report from the Asian Development Bank looks in to the real situation of women in Thailand in politics, health and economy among others.

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Making a Difference: Women in Local Politics in Thailand (1997)
Follow-up to the training of women in preparation for the 1995 Sub-district Administration Organization (SAO) elections which was written up in the book "Thai Women in Local Politics: Democracy in the Making". This study provides an overview of the political climate in Thailand in the year following the 1995 local elections in Thailand. It describes the successful women candidates who participated in the training program organized by the GDRI in 1995 and discusses the barriers that women candidates faced prior to the election and those encountered in their first year in office. It likewise describes the issues encountered by local female representatives who actively seek to promote positive changes, both for women and for community members as a whole.

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One of the major problems facing Thai women today is…
To gain an impression of the views of a wide cross-section of Thai women about the most important problems and challenges they face today, the Office of the Thailand National Commission on Women's Affairs asked a random sample of women involved in different areas of women's development to complete the sentence "One of the major problems facing Thai women today is." A selection of their responses is presented in this document. They reflect a wide range of views, but concerns about education, access to decision-making positions and women's role within the Thai family stand out.BACK TO TOP

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