X - A Hopeful Future: Collective Efforts of Thai Women NGOs

Summary

We are women together, we are Thai together

We want the government to seriously improve the lot of farmers

So that people who grow the rice would for a change have some rice to eat

So that they no longer need to sell their daughters, their mothers and their wives

We wish that all privileged people of the world both Thai and foreign would stop taking advantage of the disadvantaged…

—An Activist

The progress of women's collective action in Thai society has grown slowly and unevenly. Early organized efforts were noticeable at the turn of this century, when modernization began. They also acquired some momentum during the 1920s when democratic forces started to develop. But after 1932, when the political regime of the country changed from absolute monarchy to democracy, women's organized attempts declined. It was hoped that democracy would bring more justice, equality being already written into the constitution. But contrary to this expectation, under the military regimes between the 1930s and the 1960s, women's collective action came to a standstill and mirrored national interests. A few national women's organizations came into existence but, being elite or charity-oriented, were mostly pro-government.

It was only in the mid- 1970s that women's participation matured politically. Though confined mostly to Bangkok, this participation has been growing steadily. This maturity has little to do with the United Nations Decade of Women (though that made it easier) but much with the inner unrest created by the student movement of 1973, and the attitude of questioning generated by it. This critical attitude towards government and modernization led to the formation of new and somewhat radical women's groups, which were added on to the efforts of previously existing welfare-oriented (“classical”) women's organizations. Thus, in Thailand today, the new-generation groups coexist with the traditional ones. Earlier chapters dealt with sample representatives of these groups, and with their internal characteristics, growth and impact. This section will take a composite view of these efforts, and will compare their pitfalls and potential.