[inhitoemits]

Thai Women in National and Local Politics (20/08/2009)

Although women have had greater involvement in politics in recent decades, they still make up a minority in both local and national politics. As Thailand will hold local elections nationwide next month, more women have been urged to contest in the polls.

Since the term of 3,474 Tambon (Subdistrict) Administrative Organizations ended in July 2009, the Election Commission of Thailand is scheduled to hold the elections of the Tambon Administrative Organizations simultaneously across the country on 6 September 2009.

The Tambon Administrative Organization is responsible for looking after local people at village and subdistrict levels. The chairperson of the organization serves as the head of the administrative team in charge of economic and social development, proposing budget allocations, and reporting its operations to the Tambon Council.

Members of the Tambon Council serve as legislators and are also in charge of monitoring the operations of the Tambon Administrative Organization. More importantly, they should be the voices of the people and make proposals to the administrative team for easing problems, in response to the needs of the people.

Local elections are important for the promotion of democracy at the community level, as they provide opportunities for people to directly elect their own representatives to protect their interests. Apart from improving the living conditions of communities, local representatives are also responsible for preserving local culture and traditions.

Statistics compiled by the Gender and Development Research Institute in 2008 show that 4 percent of more than 7,000 chairpersons of the Tambon Administrative Organization were women, and female members of the Tambon Council accounted for 13 percent, out of over 86,800 members across the country.

One of the strategies under the Women’s Development Plan during the implementation of the 10th National Economic and Social Development Plan, 2007-2011, calls for the promotion of women’s participation in national politics and administration.

The strategy seeks to increase the number of female senators and members of the House of Representatives by twofold during the period. In order to achieve this, women need to have better political skills and stronger networks.

The 2001 general election saw the female membership of the House at only 9.5 percent.

In the 2005 general election, female MPs accounted for 10.4 percent of the House members.

After the 2006 general election, female MPs rose to 11.34 percent.

The results of the latest general election in Thailand on 23 December 2007 show that female MPs under the constituency system accounted for 12 percent, and under the proportional representation system, they accounted for 8.8 percent.

As for the Senate, female senators accounted for 16 percent of the Senate in 2008, an increase from 10.5 percent in 2006 and 10 percent in 2000.

Thailand PRD