The 1997 Constitution provides women and men in Thailand with equal rights. Nevertheless, gender inequality is manifest in violence against women, discrimination and human trafficking for prostitution.
Women make up just over 40 per cent of the Thai labour force and employers are required to provide them the same wages and benefits as men. Despite the fact that more than half of the country’s university graduates are female, women are still concentrated in low-paying jobs. Stereotypical attitudes relegate women to distinct jobs and duties, such as nursing, teaching, or housework, and limit perceptions of their physical and psychological abilities. Police and military academies, for example, do not accept female students.
Legislation in Thailand grants women a fairly high level of protection within the family context. The legal age for marriage is 17 years for both men and women, and individuals normally marry their partner of choice. In regard to early marriage, a 2004 United Nations report estimated that 15 per cent of girls between 15 and 19 years of age were married, divorced or widowed. This figure is quite high; however, as the legal age of marriage is young for both men and women, it does not necessarily indicate gender discrimination.
Polygamy was common among the country’s elite in the past but is now rare: modern cases involve wealthy men who sometimes have a de facto second wife, known as the “minor wife”. Family Law does not outlaw polygamy, but according to a report published by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) a man who engages in a second marriage is considered to have committed perjury against the presiding officiate. He can be fined or imprisoned for up to six months.
Women have equal legal rights to exercise parental authority in the family, but traditionally men are seen as the head of the household. In the event of divorce in which the parents cannot agree upon custody rights, it is quite common for male judges to grant custody to fathers.
Thai law does not distinguish between men and women in regard to inheritance. According to a CEDAW report, the right to inheritance is instead attributed in the following order: i) descendants; ii) parents; iii) siblings who share the same father and mother; iv) siblings who share one parent; v) paternal and maternal grandparents; and vi) aunts and uncles. The youngest daughter of a family is often expected to care for the parents in their old age, in which case she usually inherits the family home.
Legal frameworks in Thailand provide women with a high degree of protection for their physical integrity, but threats remain. Violence against women is a criminal offense, with penalties depending on the age of the victim, the type of assault, and the physical and mental condition of the victim after the assault. The social perception, however, is that violence against women – particularly if it occurs within the family – is a private matter. Many incidents remain unreported and reliable statistics on domestic violence are difficult to obtain. Nonetheless, a World Health Organization study in 2005 shows that 41 per cent of women in Bangkok and 47 per cent of women in rural areas had experienced physical or sexual abuse by an intimate partner. Rape is illegal in Thailand, but the law does not address the issue of spousal rape. Thai women and girls also run a constant risk of becoming victims to human trafficking and commercial sex.
Female genital mutilation is not practised in Thailand, and there is no evidence to suggest it is a country of concern in relation to missing women.
Women in Thailand have ownership rights and, in theory, have the same legal access to land as men. However, the law allows that only the head of the household may acquire land and the Ministry of Interior routinely registers men as the heads of households. This negatively affects women’s ability to obtain land in their own names.
Women and men also have equal access to property other than land. Conjugal property is either managed jointly or by one spouse who has been given consent to do so by the other spouse. A CEDAW report states that if either spouse enters into any legal contract independently or without the consent of the other spouse, the latter may apply to a court to have the contract revoked.
Women in Thailand have access to bank loans and other forms of credit.
Laws and customs in Thailand support a high degree of civil liberty for women: there are no legal restrictions to their freedom of movement or freedom of dress.
CEDAW (Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women) (2004), Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties Under Article 18 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women: Thailand, Combined Fourth and Fifth Periodic Reports of States Parties, CEDAW/C/THA/4-5, CEDAW, New York, NY.
Countries and Their Cultures (n.d.), Culture of Thailand, www.everyculture.com, accessed 21 February 2008.
UN (United Nations) (2004), World Fertility Report 2003, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, New York, NY.
US Department of State (2007), Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Thailand, US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Washington, DC.
