III - Invisible Force: Growth of Women's Collective Action

Summary

The growing movement of emancipation of women in Thailand is not simply a fight for equal rights or legislative change, it is a manifold campaign directed towards an improvement in the administration of laws itself, the recognition of women—their capabilities as well as their weaknesses—and social liberation from hard bound customs and traditions.

—An Activist

Women's participation in all spheres of human activities is neither a recent phenomenon nor does it exclusively happen through formal women's organizations. The significance and the extent of women's participation at home and in communities have often been overlooked in historical and sociological analyses. In Thailand, women have traditionally participated in social and cultural events, and they have demonstrated their political acumen during several social crises.

This chapter traces the historical growth of women's participation and their efforts to form organizations in Thai society. Part 1 elaborates on the natural growth of women's collective action not planned by a specific agency but shaped by historical, informal social ties and cultural institutions (March and Taqqu 1986). Part 2 contrasts this to the recent (post World War II) phase of planned development, when it was planned and implemented from outside by the government. And finally, Part 3 introduces some selected efforts of nongovernmental organizations which assist and encourage disadvantaged women to organize for self-help.

Part 1 Historical Growth of Women's Organizations

For convenience, we will discuss the evolution of women's organizations in three periods: before 1932, from 1932 to the 1960s, and the 1960s to the 1980s. The first period was under the absolute monarchy, when women participated in social functions mainly through informal family and friends’ connections (the primary groupings) and occasionally in an organized form. The second period was mostly under the nationalist campaign of military-led democracy, when the upper- and the upper-middle class women started to formally organize themselves and moved toward the secondary groupings beyond their family circles.