Dr. Maytinee Bhongsvej, Former Executive Director of the Association for the Promotion of the Status of Women

a) Personal background

Maytinee graduated with a doctoral degree in Public Administration from the National Institute of Development Administration (Thailand), an MA in Educational Psychology from the University of Minnesota (Minneapolis, USA), and a BA in Psychology from the University of Otago (Dunedin, New Zealand).

Ms. Bhongsvej has an outstanding track record of strengthening and advocating issues related to gender equality, violence against women, empowerment of women and gender mainstreaming. She started her career at the Office of the Civil Service Commission, leading the recruitment system. She later specialized in executive development. After 16 years, she joined the Mekong River Commission Secretariat (MRCS) as the Human Resource Development Manager with responsibility for human resource development of government officials working in water resources in Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand. During those eight years working at the MRCS, she served as a volunteer focusing on advocacy writing for the Gender and Development Research Institute.

In 1998, she served as Executive Director of the Association for the Promotion of the Status of Women (APSW) under the Royal Patronage of HRH Princess Soamsawali for 15 years.

She is devoted to a charitable non-governmental organization in Thailand, managing the work, including both welfare and proactive activities for women and children. She has also served as a gender consultant and trainer and has been actively involved in policy advocacy and gender mainstreaming activities for many international and national organizations. She currently plays a key role as the Secretary-General of the Board. She also serves on several national committees including the National Committees on Social Welfare, on Women's Development Fund and on Women Strategy.

b) Perceptions about women’s political participation in Thailand

In the latest general election, the proportions of women as senators and as constituency representatives were equally 16 percent. This result was the highest number of women at national levels. At the local level, the sub-district was better at 15 percent. Similarly, the number of women representatives in municipal and provincial areas decreased gradually at 13 percent and 12 percent respectively. Although the Constitution identified gender neutrality, equality opportunities did not guarantee an equality result because social attitudes did not facilitate women struggling against male power.

Moreover, she illustrated that the political process and electoral system could not facilitate women’s participation. Although the proportion of women in politics increased to men, women voters did not elect the female candidates. In addition to the role of political parties, she criticized that all political parties had no commitment but they indicated that they were wide open for women. Moreover, the budget was an important barrier when women ran for candidates.

Ten years ago, the NGOs (GDRI) promoted and dedicated seriously to women’s development in decision-making. In fact, three subsequent governments included in their policies the support for participation in the public arena. Moreover, explicit clauses were emphasized to promote women’s participation in national economic, social and political development at all levels.

Maytinee accentuated that women leaders should have more confidence, political knowledge and information. For capacity building for elected members, women politicians should upgrade administrative skills and raise gender awareness for elected members to ensure better gender responsiveness in the administration of the local bodies, including the men. Furthermore,

“Gender Watch Group” was a monitoring mechanism, formed in 1992 by different organizations working for women from different parts of the country. Its primary objectives were to monitor the progression of the implementation of policies on women by the government, political parties, parliamentary committees and the members of parliament. Unfortunately, this program could not operate continuously with lack of budget for support.

Regarding traditional values, she pointed out that gender identity was the most important problem because the sex role stereotype emphasized on male dominance. She emphasized that women from political families always followed the steps of family members; for example, father, brother or husband. These male politicians have political bases in their areas and they are well known by the villagers. Similarly, she confirmed that networking was an important and dynamic

force among groups working for advocacy. Awareness-raising and linkages with other interest groups were instrumental in broadening the support base.

In addition to economic development, she indicated that the household burden and care of children were obstacles for pushing women to political interest and participation. Finally, she suggested that all sectors concerned at all levels had to join hands in working out appropriate measures. The institutions and organizations, including mass media, needed to support women who were ready to move into politics and administration.

The work of NGO’s meeting with different groups raises awareness on the importance of women representation and the quota system but equal representation did not gain support.

Nevertheless, Maytinee thought that the gender quota system was the best way to access women’s political participation. She estimated 50 percent of women in national and local politics in the future.

She summarized that women should start from the women themselves and they had to step out as candidates in both elections and appointment racing grounds. On the contrary, she emphasized that gender identity was an obstructing factor for women’s political participation because of the household burden and care of the children as other hindrances. Similarly, social attitudes were still the most important obstacles, especially the patriarchy.

10. Ruengrawee Pichaikul, Director of Gender and Development Research Institute (GDRI)

a) Personal background

Ruengrawee graduated with an MA in Justice Administration at Kasetsart University. She previously worked as a field worker, assisting refugees to access resettlement and humanitarian aid schemes, operated by the American Embassy and the United Nations Border Relief Operation along the Thailand-Cambodia border. She joined Asia Foundation with over twenty years of work experience as Program Manager/Coordinator in Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. Her tasks included developing and managing programs in areas of constitutional reform, legal aid in disaster recovery and conflict resolution, local governance and decentralization, women’s empowerment, and human rights promotion. She was also a producer of a talk-show television program “Let’s Talk Rights” of which 55 episodes had been broadcast through Thai Public Broadcasting Service

Channel. Furthermore, she also served as a member and advisor to various parliamentary standing committees and sub-committees focusing on promoting women’s status and the justice system administration. In addition, she was a committee member of the National Police Reform Committee. Her current responsibility is Director of Gender and Development Research Institute (GDRI).

b) Perceptions about women’s political participation in Thailand

According to Article 30, the 1997 and 2007 Constitutions identified that “All people, both men and women shall enjoy equal rights”. In 1974, there were no women as village heads.

According to the 1997 Constitution or the People Constitution, this draft emerged as the first women governor, women district chief officer, and women judge. She indicated that the constitutional framework opened wide for Thai women. She noticed that the Thai political process has improved since 1997.

Furthermore, the 2007 Constitution still mentioned gender awareness on the party list, the electoral law and the national strategy. She noted Thai parties as an essential mechanism to advocate women’s political participation; however, parties needed to recruit candidates who had outstanding personality and acceptance from the people to get winnable seats. This situation was an essential obstacle to women running for candidates. Furthermore, she disagreed strongly with the national plans because the legislators and policymakers did not highlight gender issues as the first agenda, and implementation did not become effective in the society.

Ruengrawee described traditional women stereotypes as humble, peaceful, and honest as advantage points for Thai women, and the gender perspective was another factor for women in politics. She accentuated that the proportion of women voters increased gradually because Thai people accepted the abilities of women politicians, but the opportunity of women as candidates was still obscured because the budget became a major condition to support political empowerment.

She also emphasized the family condition, whereby woman individuals and mass media became important barriers for women’s political participation. Furthermore, she restated that traditional values still remained; especially gender stereotypes and prejudices were deeply embedded in Thai society.

The GDRI statistic record revealed only 30 percent of women who were not from a political family; this result was still low. Consequently, she agreed that a political family impacted directly on women candidates, especially in local politics. She also guaranteed that the family

condition, educational background and political experience were the most influencing factors for both national and local women politicians. In addition to economic development, she illustrated that a woman went outside to work. She recognized the economic and political situations; every problem could be solved by political issues. Similarly, she restated that mass media was the most important instrument for women to access politics. Finally, she also suggested that related organizations should create a new mechanism and join hands.

Regarding the gender quota, she explained that this system could become effective as a special measure or affirmative action and she also claimed more than 30 percent for national women representatives and 40 percent of local women candidates.

Finally, she concluded that the Constitution and good political atmosphere were the major facilitating factors for women’s political participation. Conversely, violence in elections and the supporting budget became the most important obstacles for them.

Comparison

According to the results of the in-depth interviews from 10 Thai women, this section analyzes the important factors affecting women’s political participation. To illustrate clearly, this part also compares the ten women’s attitudes and opinions through the difference of occupation and work experiences as follows:

(A) Civil servants (D) NGOs officers Maytinee Bhongsvej Rattana Saiyanitee Malee Prukpongsawalee Ruengrawee Pichaikul

(B) National politicians (C) Local politicians

Maleerat Kaewka Jarunee Pimpinith Na Nakhon Phanom

Ratchadaporn Kaewsanit Khomkhai Udonpim

Pussadee Tamthai Nongluck Tuengchan

Perceptions about women’s political participation in Thailand Institutional factors

a) Constitution and law / current situation of women’s political participation

All civil servants were not confident in the situation of women’s participation. Both Rattana and Malee thought that the proportion of women in politics was still low at all levels.

Conversely, group D confirmed the openness of the Thai Constitution. Maytinee explained the situation of women’s participation in national and local level as a good signal; 16 percent for the national level and 15 percent at the sub-district. Ruengrawee explained that the evolution of the Thai Constitution gave more opportunity for women’s participation.

According to group B, women national politicians all agreed that the situation of women’s participation was getting better but the percentage of women in national level was still low at 15 percent. Maleerat mentioned the increase of women in Parliament who were influenced by their husbands but dismissed of political rights by the decision of the Constitution Court. Similarly, local politicians all agreed that the opportunities in the society increased gradually but there were still few women who accessed politics because of the family condition and the social attitudes.

b) Political process

Three women national politicians argued that the Thai political system facilitated women;

however, the recruitment of political parties was an important obstacle for women. According to Ratchadaporn, the political parties selected famous candidates with acceptance from the people;

therefore, it was not easy for the ordinary woman to allocate the supporting budget and the political base to run as a candidate. Conversely, both Khomkhai and Jarunee stated that many local women were interested in public administration but prejudice and gender stereotypes were important obstacles for local women candidates.

On the contrary, NGO officers criticized a political system that could not facilitate women’s participation. Ruengrawee argued that the Constitution identified the gender awareness on the party list but the obligations were not legal. Two senior officers had different opinions.

Rattana expected positively that the political system gave more opportunities for Thai women as well as provision of the Constitution and laws. On the other hand, Malee commented on the political system and noticed that women struggled against many hindrances in the society.

Moreover, she suggested providing public areas for women to freely express opinions and attitudes.

c) Political parties

Three national female politicians pointed to the recruitment of candidates for political parties. Most candidates were men. In practice, the political parties recruited potential candidates as well-known people to get winnable seats in the Parliament. Pussadee suggested that the party list was the best instrument to increase the number of national women representatives. Conversely, three local politicians criticized the big parties, emphasizing the national political arena.

Furthermore, Jarunee noticed that local women running for candidates never got the supporting budget from any organizations.

Furthermore, NGO officers all argued that most parties needed to get the winnable seats and the majority votes. According to Maytinee, all Thai political parties had no commitment and no clear policies for women in politics but they indicated that the parties were open wide for women. Similarly, both senior officials emphasized that parties did not seriously encourage women candidates in the election and they ignored gender equality and the public interests.

d) National policy and plan

All group B interviewees criticized the national plan that did not facilitate Thai women in the decision-making processes. Although the National Economic and Social Development Plans were official documents, they were not implemented seriously. On the other hand, two local politicians (Khomkhrai and Nongluck) asserted that the national development plans were crucial mechanisms to increase the numbers of women participation. Nevertheless, Jarunee disagreed with the national plans and emphasized that the working of NGOs was the most important mechanism to increase the number of women in politics.

Similarly, both NGO officers commented on the nation plans which did not identify gender equality as a priority agenda. Focusing the working of NGOs, GDRI tried to support potential women accessing higher positions at both national and local levels. According to the senior officers’ attitudes, Rattana also confirmed the national plans as only governmental documents and she emphasized the role of practitioners. She indicated that related organizations were important mechanisms for women’s development. Similarly, Malee suggested human resources development as a primary agenda.

Non-institutional factors e) Leadership personality

The three national women politicians pointed to leader personality which was an essential qualification as morality, honesty, public spirit and transformative leadership. Furthermore, women politicians need outstanding characteristics to build the reliability from people. Similarly, all local women politicians agreed that women identity was an influencing factor supporting the good image of politicians such as tenderness, prudence, humbleness and honesty.

Both NGO officers mentioned gender perspective as an important qualification for leadership. According to Maytinee and Rattana, the characteristics of female leaders must include confidence, political knowledge and information. Malee focused on transformative politics and gender communication to understand the sexual differences.

f) Acceptance from citizens and community

Maleerat and Ratchadaporn criticized Thai women politicians who were not accepted by the people. Moreover, the budget was also an essential factor for women’s political participation.

Nevertheless, Pussadee argued that Thai citizens understood gradually the role of women politicians and the acceptance of women’s empowerment. Three local women politicians noticed that the role of women in the past was not accepted because of prejudice and gender stereotypes.

Presently, the potential and knowledge of female politicians were increasingly accepted by the people.

On the contrary, all NGO officers had positive attitudes to women in politics, particularly in local areas. The GDRI annual reports identified that the percentage of women’s representatives increased gradually because of acceptance from people and the capability of politicians.

Furthermore, two civil servants accentuated that gender stereotypes and traditional values were the most obstructing factors for Thai women in politics.

g) Thai social context

According to the two national representatives, Ratchadaporn and Pussadee asserted that Thai society opened wide for women’s participation. On the other hand, Maleerat argued that the society did not facilitate to access women’s empowerment. All national politicians assumed that traditional values and the budget were important hindrances for women in politics. Both local politicians, Khomkhai and Nongluck agreed with the openness of the society that could facilitate to women’s participation; whereas, Jarunee criticized that Thai society did not support women in

the political arena. All local women representatives agreed that to access the political sphere a woman required outstanding characteristics to build reliability from the people.

From the perspectives of NGOs, Reungrawee noticed that the society gave more opportunities for women; however, the family condition, women herself and mass media were major problems for Thai women. Similarly, both senior officers restated that Thai society opened for women but the opportunity for women was still obscured. They criticized the political parties and political system as the major hindrances for women’s political participation in Thailand.

h) Traditional values and cultures

Maleerat and Ratchadaporn assured that discrimination and gender stereotypes were important hindrances for women holding higher positions. Meanwhile, Pussadee believed that religion was benefit for women. In addition to local women politicians, they all agreed with the Buddhism belief which facilitated women’s participation. Nevertheless, Jarunee claimed that religion, culture and family conditions were major obstacles for women in politics.

Furthermore, both NGO officers confirmed that traditional values and social attitudes did not facilitate women’s participation. Maytinee emphasized on gender identity as one major problem. According to all the senior officers, both Rattana and Malee indicated the importance of religion, particularly Buddhism was not an obstacle and Thai society gave more opportunities for women in many aspects.

i) Family background

All three national politicians agreed strongly that family background was a crucial factor for women politicians because women from political families were more familiar with the people than ordinary women. In addition, the budget was an important condition for women entering politics. Meanwhile, Jarunee and Khomkhai accentuated that a woman from a political family was an influencing factor to building the confidence of the candidate. Due to her political experiences, Nongluck explained that she did not come from a political family but she served as a local representative with her abilities and political experiences.

Due to the NGOs’ attitudes, both officers accepted that, in general, political families built political bases in their own areas for a long time and the predecessors maintained the power base.

For this reason, they required their heir politicians (male or female) to run for candidates. Similarly, both the civil servants confirmed that the family background was the most supporting factor for women politicians.

j) Motivation/inspiration

According to political inspiration, Maleerat and Ratchadaporn were previously activists, and they continued to hold as national politicians. Meanwhile, Pussadee was familiar with the women’s movement since 1994 and she became a director of Women in Politics Institute. All national representatives intended to sincerely help exploited people and to amend the laws to equal

According to political inspiration, Maleerat and Ratchadaporn were previously activists, and they continued to hold as national politicians. Meanwhile, Pussadee was familiar with the women’s movement since 1994 and she became a director of Women in Politics Institute. All national representatives intended to sincerely help exploited people and to amend the laws to equal