Gender inequality in Thailand
The social and economic changes in Thailand in the past decades have important implications for the quality and quantity of labor.
[2] The transformation of Thailand's social and economic structure since the 1960s led to the gender disparities in Thai society.
[3] Recently, the position of Thai women in the labor market has improved a lot in comparison to the past as a result of modernization.
[5] In labor economics, gender inequality is widely discussed in terms of concepts of sex segregation and employment discrimination.
[6] Thai government and non-governmental organizations have put forth many policies and programs to address gender inequalities in the last few decades.
The GII has three components that reflect three dimensions of gender inequality: reproductive health, empowerment, and economic activity.
Thai women have been empowered to serve in the military, assigned roles as negotiators, mediators, and facilitators, as well as involvement in security operations.
During the era of Ayutthaya Kingdom (1350-1767), under the sakdina system, every freeman had to be registered as a servant with the local lords, under whom the prime-age men were forced to be away from home to work for the crown or to serve military services.
[12] In 2004, the average welfare, measure by individual earnings, of Thai men was estimated to have 8.29% higher than that of women.
[13] Gender norms in Thai society are one of the main sources of discrimination against women in the labor market.
The wife is the hind leg”, implying that men are the leaders and women are the followers in Thai society.
After controlling for the effects of the differences in education, work experience and location, that may reflect the income disparity between men and women, the study of Son (2011) indicates that wage pays largely contribute to the income disparity between men and women.
[18] Preference of workers and cultural factors that lead to job segregation are the causes of gendered wage disparity as well.
[3] The labor markets are embedded with societal gender norms that shape the preferences of employers and workers on choices of jobs that are appropriate to each sex.
[19] As of 2007, among non-agricultural sector workers in Thailand, women received 92% of the average wage of men compared to 65.4% in 1990.
However, in 2002, more men than women in every level of education, except those with doctoral degree, earned income of more than 10,000 Thai baht per month.
[25] Almost 35% of men received income of more than 10,000 Thai baht per month in comparison to 23% of women who did, regardless of education level.
[3] Empirical results suggest that although education tends to reduce segregation and discrimination against women in Thailand, it increases inequality in earnings between male and female workers.
The NCWA Board has thirty members and consists of experts in the area related to women's development as well as representatives from major non-government organizations (NGOs), government agencies, community organizations and the elite society whereas the Prime Minister is formally the chairperson.
[26] The national committee was set up to prepare the first long-term Women Development Plan, which covered the period 1982-2001.
[15] The goal of the short-term plans is to enable women to fully develop their potential; to become valued human resources; to enjoy a good quality of life; and to participate in every aspect of their country's development which could be achieved by eliminating all forms of discrimination, exploitation, and violence and providing necessary protection to women.
The implementation of the CEDAW and the Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA) have had a visible impact on the Thai's legislation[clarification needed] in the aspects of women protection and the progress toward gender equality in the country.
[2] The legal changes that reflect gender sensitivity and women's human rights include the enactment of the Protection of Domestic Violence Victims Act (2007), the amendment made to the Penal Code to prevent women from being raped by their own spouse, and the indications of gender inequality are also implemented in the recent constitutions.
[1] To enhance employment opportunities for women, the Thai government established the Department of Skills Development under the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare in 1992.
