Gender inequality in Thailand

The social and economic changes in Thailand in the past decades have important implications for the quality and quantity of labor. The economic and non-economic roles of women in Thailand can be traced back several hundred years in Thai history,^[1] when there were traditional discriminatory attitudes towards women in the culture of Thailand.^[2] The transformation of Thailand's social and economic structure since the 1960s led to the gender disparities in Thai society.^[3] Recently, the position of Thai women in the labor market has improved a lot in comparison to the past as a result of modernization.^[4] In 2011, Thailand ranked 69th out of 143 countries in the Gender Inequality Index.^[5] In labor economics, gender inequality is widely discussed in terms of concepts of sex segregation and employment discrimination.^[6] Thai government and non-governmental organizations have put forth many policies and programs to address gender inequalities in the last few decades.