2000 Gender and Development in Thailand

Section B - Socio Economic Status of Women
Part 1 - Women's Social Conditions

A: Health, education and family

1. Health

While basic life-threatening infectious diseases are considered to be under control, globalization has introduced recent economic and social changes, which generate new dangers - such as occupational diseases, and drug abuse.

Since the first reported case in 1984, the HIV/AIDS epidemic has become a major health problem. Of the 63,578 reported cumulative AIDS cases in Thailand in 1997, 77% were men and 23% were women. The ratio of women infected is expected to increase due in large part to social attitudes, which ignore or condone men's extramarital affairs. The National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) Working Group estimated that cumulative HIV infections in the year 2000 will affect approximately 1.3 million people and 470,000 of these will develop full-blown AIDS.

As a result of rapid economic and social changes, increasing economic competition, and faster paced lifestyles, declining mental health is becoming a cause for increased concern. While the real number of those suffering from mental illness is not known (Thai people traditionally would rather take their troubles to a fortune teller than a psychiatrist). As a rough indicator of overall mental health we can consider the number of suicides - whether they are the result of poverty or mental health issues both can be mainly related to family matters. The annual number of suicides reported by the Police Department rose from 1,029 to 1,451 between 1990 and 1994, with women representing about 25 percent of these cases.

In the agricultural sector, women are increasingly exposed to daily contact with hazardous chemical substances, as they are frequently required to handle pesticides and herbicides without an understanding of toxicity levels or protective measures. In the industrial sector, occupational health and safety was recently put on top of the agenda of women workers' demands to the Government. The seriousness of the problem remained hidden for so long partly because a majority of women workers are migrants from rural areas. They often stay home when they feel sick. Furthermore, since there is no law requiring employers to keep a record of workers' health, it is extremely difficult for them to claim compensation.

2. Education

The latest census of 1990 revealed that six out of ten of the illiterate population over 6 years of age were female. At present, limited access to education is not obvious although some gender differences still exist. Traditionally, the parents' attitude is to give priority to their sons' education. In poor families, daughters are taken out of school and put to work supporting the family, while sons are encouraged to continue their education. Boys are guided toward courses such as engineering while girls are considered suited mainly for courses that will be useful in their socially assigned domestic roles. However, a 1996 worldwide test in science and mathematics conducted by the International Education Association of half a million 13 year old students in 41 countries revealed that Thailand was one of just 11 countries which showed no gender gape in scientific subjects.

Women's preferences for education are limited to a few subjects such as business, social sciences, humanities, and health sciences. This narrow range of preference can be attributed to entrenched values and beliefs. In some disciplines such as veterinary sciences, education administrators apply quotas based on sex, indicating traditional values and attitudes toward proper gender roles.

Despite the fact that the ratio of male to female doctors in 1996 is almost 3:1 (15,572 to 5,535), a quota which restricts women to hold only 50 percent of entrance places for medical degrees, and which has been in effect for many years, is still in force. Educational administrators explain that the preference for male medical doctors is linked to the attempt to address the continuing scarcity of doctors in rural and remote areas, since women doctors have traditionally preferred working for hospitals in urban areas.

The small number of female doctors in rural areas may present some problems. Thai women especially young, single women may have strong reservations against being examined by male doctors for what they consider to be personal and sensitive health problems, such as gynecology and obstetrics, HIV/AIDS, or family planning. In addition, the small number of women in the medical field often leads to less research being done on women's health issues and reduces women's influence in designing policies and systems favorable to the allocation of resources to women's health and relevant to women's medical needs.

The educational disadvantage of women in the Thai workforce is indicated in the Labor Force Survey conducted three times annually by the National Statistical Office. The proportion of women with no education is twice that of men. This proportion remained surprisingly consistent for the three decades since 1960, even though during that period the illiteracy rate of the Thai population over 10 years old declined from 29 percent to just 7 percent. The educational difference remains considerable between the sexes, despite the fact that at certain periods, the rate of the improvement was better for women than men.

Courses offered by the Department of Nonformal Education can have a significant effect on raising levels of education, particularly for women as they are more likely than men to have had to end their education in order to start work. In 1996, the proportion of females participating in nonformal education was 53.5 percent compared to 46.5 percent for males. The gender difference is obvious in many courses with enrolment rates being higher for females in adult functional literacy, vocational certificates, and vocational short courses. Only in adult general educational programs are male enrolment rates higher. Men also tend to participate more in classroom learning and distance education, while in self-instruction the opposite is the case.

3. Family

in the three decades between 1960 and 1990, the number of divorces increased 12 times; one third of these divorces were in the Bangkok area. When a marriage breaks down, women are likely to suffer more than men. Four out of five divorced women are left to raise children on their own, without alimony or child support from their former husbands. In 1990, women headed one in five households in Thailand. In 1980, the proportion of women in the age group 60-64 who were divorced, widowed, or separated was almost four times higher than for men in the same age group (37.7 percent compared to 10.0 percent), indicating that problems of the old age group will be focused on women. Women are more likely to live alone in their later years due both to their longer life expectancy and the social fact that following either the divorce or the death of a spouse, their chance of remarrying is much less than for men.

B. Women's Participation in Public Affairs

The expansion of educational opportunities for women, together with social and other forms of development that have accompanied Westernization, have gradually changed the country's socio-cultural attitudes about the role of Thai women in public affairs. Educated women now have a chance to enter public service, although they were initially concentrated in clerical jobs and the traditionally perceived female occupations of teaching and nursing. However, there are still socio-cultural biases channeling women into certain fields of employment; (e.g., into social affairs ministries rather than economic ministries). Women outnumber men among civil servants, but the majority remains in the lower ranks. They are responsible for finance, accounting, research and information, rather than in charge of planning or implementing policies. In 1998, a woman was appointed to the post of permanent secretary (the highest non-political position in a ministry) for the first time.

Thai women were first given equal voting rights to men in 1933. In six years the number of female senators in the Thai Parliament, rose to 21 from 11 due to lobbying by women's groups. The figure is still very low, as it represents only 8.1 percent of the total. More women have become interested in standing for national election, the 15 percent recorded in the 1996 election being the highest ever. The current number of women member of parliament is 22, with 3 of them joining the cabinet.

In local government, substantial changes occurred after 1982 when the Local Administration Act allowed women to take up the post of village head and sub-district head. The proportion is still very small, 1.9 percent in 1996, but this is still an increase from 0.7 percent 10 years earlier. It will be some time before a critical mass is reached because most of the incumbents who were elected before 1992 will remain in their position until retirement at 60 years. Of these, 99 percent are male.

The participation of women in village councils is very low. This could be partly due to the attitude that the council is male business. Meetings are often held outside village boundaries and can go on late into the night, making it very difficult for women to take part. Women's low participation rates are regarded as a sign of their low interest in the job. Since important economic decisions, such as the location of a new well or selection of representatives from the village in training programs are made by the council, women's interests are adversely affected by their small numbers of representatives. Traditional projects have been infrastructure related, which women may feel less qualified to discuss. However, now that local interests are beginning to shift toward issues such as health and child care facilities, women have been more confident in seeking support for their candidacy and to voice their opinion during meetings.

In 1994, another door was opened for women's participation in local administration when the Sub-district Council and Sub-district Administrative Organization Act was passed, under a decentralization policy. Elected officials will gradually replace appointed ones, who are almost all male. Female candidates now represent 10 percent of the total number on average and accounted for 0.8 percent of those elected in the last election.

Dated: 6Jun2000