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15200 results in ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute

Page 711 of 760

  • V - Be Useful: Girl Guides Association of Thailand

  • from PART II - Case Studies
  • Book:
    By Women, For Women
    Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    21 October 2015
    Print publication:
    01 July 1991, pp 61-76

  • Summary

    Samakom Phu Bumpen Prayote, or the Girl Guides Association of Thailand (GGAT), is a member of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) but it has also developed its own Thai identity. Rather than imparting leadership training only to school-age girls, it has included out-of-school young women and young men. Similarly, rather than merely being confined to moral training of good citizenship, it has extended its scope of activities to rural development. That is why the well known motto of scouts, Be Prepared, is translated appropriately in Thai as Bumpen Prayote (Be Useful) to correctly portray its wider range of activities. The association is today known for its expertise in leadership training. It, in fact, was active in development training for 15 years before it became in 1972 a full member of WAGGGS. It thus has a history, like NCWT, of more than 30 years of useful existence. Concentrating on the education of girls under 20 years old, it adds an additional dimension to the development programmes of women in Thailand.

    Historical Evolution

    In the late 1950s, a group of highly educated urban women raised their concern about the lack of training opportunities for girls. While boys in their schools received training in leadership and self-reliance through the boy-scout curriculum, Thai girls had no such opportunity. In 1957, a small group called the Benevolent Club (Chom Rom Phu Bumpen Prayote) was formed with the collaboration of a Thai women's weekly magazine called Satri Sarn and the Siamese Association of University Women (S AUW) in which two active young women, Nilawan Pinthong and Kanok Samsen, played key roles. Both women were members of SAUW and worked with Satri Sam. While Nilawan was the publisher and editor, Kanok edited the youth section, called “Damn Sarn”, with the ideas of Bumpen Prayote in mind. However, after realizing that the published media could promote only limited change, they founded an organization with its own plan of activities.

  • VI - Emergency Home: Association for the Promotion of the Status of Women

  • from PART II - Case Studies
  • Book:
    By Women, For Women
    Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    21 October 2015
    Print publication:
    01 July 1991, pp 77-91

  • Summary

    About the time of the students' revolt in 1973, some women activists got together in Bangkok to work for legal justice for women. Samakom Songserm Sthanaparb Satri, or the Association for the Promotion of the Status of Women (APSW), started out as a pressure group to deal with the problems and obstacles relating to economic and legal rights which prevented women from becoming full-fledged citizens. Core members of APSW were professionally established women and men. The target groups included less privileged women such as labourers, low-skilled workers, prostitutes, and the urban poor and migrants in Bangkok. During the last ten years, its initial emphasis as a pressure group has weakened. The activities of APSW have shifted more to welfare and immediate relief work such as running an emergency home, and the WE-TRAIN project. Rather than being known by its long name, the group has often been recognized for, and has become synonymous with, Ban Pak Chukchoem (Emergency Home).

    Historical Evolution

    The APSW is an offshoot of an earlier organization, the Association of Women Lawyers of Thailand (AWL). In the early 1970s AWL realized that there were certain laws which either discriminated against or did not protect women in employment. For example, in the local administration system women were not allowed to become chief in a district bureaucracy from village level onward, and in the military, the highest rank a woman doctor could reach was colonel while a male doctor of equal qualifications could become a general. Also a female factory worker earned 50 baht while a male earned 70 baht for similar work. When amendments proposed by the AWL were turned down by the Cabinet, this motivated some members of the association to think about an alternative strategy (Setasuwan and Wongchai 1984).

    One of the key and active persons in AWL at that time was Khunying Kanitha Wichiencharoen, elder sister of Khunying Kanok Samsen Vil of GG AT, and President of AWL during 1961-63 as well as an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

  • II - Dutiful but Overburdened: Women in Thai Society

  • from PART I - Background and Social Context
  • Book:
    By Women, For Women
    Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    21 October 2015
    Print publication:
    01 July 1991, pp 13-24

  • Summary

    Under the present social, economic and political conditions, as far as the status of women is concerned, the age of privilege of men is passing and the era of equality is approaching

    —Sanya Dharmasakti

    It is a common sight in Bangkok to see women working—as food and vegetable vendors, factory and construction workers, shopkeepers, sales assistants or bus conductresses. In the countryside, on the other hand, they tend to work as rice farmers and agricultural labourers. To support themselves and their families at home, many of the less educated women seek jobs abroad as maids, mail-order brides or prostitutes. The high visibility of Thai women and their high level of participation in the labour force, however, does not imply autonomy. The modern cash economy, introduced in 1855 with the signing of the Bowring Treaty, together with contemporary socio-political factors have undermined their control over their own lives, especially among the majority of poor urban and rural women. Their work, particularly in the casual sector, which includes jobs such as bazaar trade, self-employed vendors and farm workers, have been increasingly undervalued. Poor working women today are struggling to survive in a hostile urban environment.

    Development processes, like capitalism, assume different structures depending on the historical, political and social context of the country in which they originate. An attempt is made in this chapter to discuss the structure of economic development in Thailand, the shape it. assumed in social/class and regional terms, and the effects it has had on women. This chapter shows that political institutions such as the monarchy and the state, and cultural institutions such as the kinship system and religion define the status of women differently and relegate them to varying degrees of power and autonomy. Due to politico-historical reasons, poor rural women are at a severe disadvantage in terms of education, health and employment. They suffer physically and are forced to take low-paying jobs to survive, in addition to supporting their families.

  • VII - Legal Support: Friends of Women

  • from PART II - Case Studies
  • Book:
    By Women, For Women
    Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    21 October 2015
    Print publication:
    01 July 1991, pp 92-108

  • Summary

    Klum Phuan Ying, or the Friends of Women (FOW) group, is a relatively recent organization of the 1980s run by young, educated urban women. The group has a distinct approach from those women's associations which emphasize women's traditional roles. The founding members felt at the time of its inception that most programmes of the traditional groups were based on charity and welfare, and were sometimes irrelevant to the real needs of the majority of Thai women. They believed that the government also lacked the will-power to promote women's status, specifically on the issues of women's rights.’ Thus, there was no group that was a real support or a friend to women. Contrary to most women's associations whose members came from high society, FOW was formed by young middle-class women mostly with a university education. During its early enthusiastic phase, the group once claimed itself to be the continuation of a historical struggle of Thai women which grew shortly before 1932. Even though FOW is about a decade old, it has gone through various stages of structural adjustments and funding uncertainty. Devoted now to creating awareness and providing relief, the group is moving towards stability and growth.

    Historical Evolution

    Around 1978-79, when student activity had subsided but their critical awareness lingered on, some women activists and academics in Bangkok felt that the existing women's organizations (both governmental and non-governmental) were not meeting the pressing needs of the majority of Thai women. Some doubted the government's will or the intentions of the various organizations formed by the “government's servants” as pointed out by one activist,

    The government did not have that far-reaching vision, or the will to go into organizing women. The associations of wives of the army, the air force, or the navy were all clearly extensions of the military. The Association of Wives of the Ministry of Interior (Maharthai) which included wives of sub-district chiefs (kamnan), village chiefs (phu-yai-baan), and governors aimed to perpetuate values already existing in the society.[…]

  • IV - Gold Leaf on a Buddha Image: National Council of Women of Thailand

  • from PART II - Case Studies
  • Book:
    By Women, For Women
    Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    21 October 2015
    Print publication:
    01 July 1991, pp 43-60

  • Summary

    Sabha Satri Haeng Chart or the National Council of Women of Thailand (NCWT) is one of the largest, longest lasting and best-known women's organizations in Thailand. It came into existence in 1956 as the first umbrella body for Thai women's organizations. The success in starting and initially sustaining this big organization was largely due to the support of two women dignitaries—a Prime Minister's wife and a princess. During the past 30 years, the organization has mostly been run by high society women. Recently, however, NCWT has attempted to add development perspectives into its predominantly charity-welfare programmes. Representing over 100 organizations from all over the country, NCWT continues to enjoy significant participation from élite women, and a close association with the government. As a pioneer women's organization in Thailand, NCWT is worth studying for its history, role and contribution.

    Historical Evolution

    After World War II, the Thai Government started reviving Thai nationalism. The formation of NCWT was a culmination of efforts to “bring out” Thai women during the two successive premierships of Field Marshal Phibun (1938— 44, and 1948-56). The then First Lady, Thanphuying La-iat (the wife of Phibun), saw an opportunity to utilize the resources of high-class women—their ample free time and training—to bring all Thai women out to join their men in nation building. Her proposal to set up a government wing for women was approved, and she was appointed chairperson of the Women's Cultural Bureau (WCB, Samnak Watthanatham Faai Ying). The aim of the bureau was to promote nationalistic spirit in Thai women by encouraging them to form groups and to assimilate nationalistic values and behaviour (NCWT 1987). In order to incorporate the participation of women outside the government such as wives of governors, judges, police, high-ranking military officers, in 1943, the First Lady founded a private women's association called the Women's Cultural Club (WCC, Samosorn Watthanatham Ying) in Bangkok.

  • IX - Training and Education: Committee of Women's Welfare Promotion, Hotline, and EMPOWER

  • from PART II - Case Studies
  • Book:
    By Women, For Women
    Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    21 October 2015
    Print publication:
    01 July 1991, pp 123-140

  • Summary

    In addition to the five larger selected groups described in previous chapters, there are several other small women's groups operating in Thailand based mostly in Bangkok. They contribute to women's issues in many significant ways. Instead of describing them all, we chose three relatively known and effective groups: the Committee on Women's Welfare Promotion (CWWP), EMPOWER and Hotline. These groups respectively pay attention to young village women by providing them vocational training, to bar girls by increasing their self-confidence through English and drama classes, and to women of all ages by counselling them mostly over the phone. The efforts of these groups are predominantly educational. They tackle the problems of different groups of women ranging from rural to urban, but differ in their ideology and in using different methods and forms of educational media.

    Committee on Women's Welfare Promotion

    The Committee on Women's Welfare Promotion is not an independent grass roots women's group, but a programme of a larger organization, the National Council of Social Welfare (NCSW). To co-ordinate social welfare activities among government and private organizations, NCSW was established in 1960 and was granted royal patronage in 1961. King Bhumipol donated one million baht in 1965 for the construction of the council's office building, appropriately named after his father, Prince Mahidol. The NCSW comprises a variety of sub-programmes focusing on social welfare and development. Women's issues are taken up by CWWP on the grounds of promoting women's welfare. Since its inception in 1971, CWWP has been active under the leadership of Khunying Dittakarn-Pakdi. It has stressed the development of rural women. It has over 30 members and four staff members.

    History

    Khunying Dittakarn-Pakdi was one of those few Thai women who went abroad for medical training in 1940. At the John Hopkins University she did two years of internship, and married soon afterwards in 1942. The next 20 years she followed her husband, who was as an ambassador, abroad.

  • Appendix D - An Open Letter to the Japanese Prime Minister from Thai Women (1981)

  • Book:
    By Women, For Women
    Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    21 October 2015
    Print publication:
    01 July 1991, pp 175-177

  • Summary

    During the official trip to Thailand of the Japanese Prime Minister Senko Suzuki in mid-January 1981, various organizations hadjoinedforces to campaign against the “sex tours” organized by Japanese tourist companies. This letter was submitted to the Japanese Prime Minister.

    19th January 1981

    His Excellency Senko Suzuki

    Dear Mr. Prime Minister

    We, in the name of a group of Thai citizens, would like to welcome your excellency to Thailand. We are informed that the purpose of your visit to our country is to cement the existing friendly relations between Japan and Thailand, and to personally study some of the problems at first hand. Hence, we would like to take this occasion to draw your attention to a serious and urgent problem which concerns both citizens of Japan and Thailand.

    At present, the relationship between the two peoples is being eroded by the uncontrolled growth of “sex tourism” similar to the cases in the Philippines, South Korea and Taiwan.

    In 1979, Japanese tourists were the most numerous among the 1,500,000 tourist to Thailand. Out of the total 89,140 Japanese tourists who visited our country that year, 70,304 were men and only 18,840 were women, that the first constituted almost 80%. The same discrepancy is also apparent in the case of the Philippines where more than 80% of the total Japanese tourists are men. In contrast, there is no such male dominance in the number of Japanese tourists to European countries and the United States, which are all developed and industrialised countries.

    Investigations in Japan, the Philippines, South Korea and Thailand all point to one conspicuous fact that the main attraction that draws this unusually high number of Japanese men to these Asian countries is the overwhelming and overt existence of sex services. In Bangkok alone, there are 1,157 places of entertainment which offer sex services and the number of women involved in these services amounts to a staggering 300,000. Moreover, thousands of Thai women are “exported” to provide such services even in Japan.

  • IV - Intra-Regional Trade

  • Ranjit Maligaspe
  • Book:
    ASEAN-South Asia Trade
    Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    21 October 2015
    Print publication:
    01 January 1991, pp 23-32

  • Summary

    Historically, primary commodities from the region have been exported to developed country markets. Countries such as India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Malaysia were under Western domination till the end of World War II, and they were suppliers of cheap raw materials to the colonial masters. This trade pattern continued even after their independence. Even now a good proportion of the region's primary commodities are exported to them. The only new additions are Japan and the newly industrialized countries. However, as the economic upheavals during the last two decades would have shown, reliance on only the traditional developed markets may be disadvantageous.

    An alternative is to concentrate on trade among primary commodity producer countries themselves. Countries of South Asia and ASEAN taken as a unit comprise a huge market. Their total population of about 1.33 billion in 1987 makes it a viable unit for concentrated marketing activities. Moreover, the populations of most of these countries are increasing. Although per capita GNP of some countries such as Bangladesh and Bhutan are low. with the ongoing development plans, they are expected to increase. Their income elasticity of demand for most primary commodities except for essentials such as rice is high. In other words, demand for the commodities is expected to grow fast as incomes increase. The close proximity of these countries could result in transport being cheaper and quicker. Moreover, consumer habits and tastes in these countries are uniform. The sophisticated packaging and health requirements which exporters need to comply with in developed markets are relatively unknown here. Hence countries in the region could realize these advantages inherent among themselves and endeavour to increase trade. Increased trade could be either bilateral or multilateral. Bilateral deals and special trading arrangements for primary commodities or otherwise are nothing new to these countries. Therefore, as a matter of policy, at the highest levels of government, they could grant priority to primary commodity trade between regional countries.

    However, present trade in primary commodities among countries in the South Asia-ASEAN region is not at encouraging levels.

  • IV - The EC Internal Market: Implications for Capital Flows

  • from PART II - COMPLETING THE EC INTERNAL MARKET
  • Book:
    ASEAN and the EC
    Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    09 November 2017
    Print publication:
    01 January 1991, pp 88-126

  • Summary

    Introduction

    The Commission of the European Communities has already set the pace of a complete liberalization of markets for goods and services by 1992. Integration of financial markets has always been seen as a necessary complementary measure to reduce transaction costs and facilitate the creation of an integrated European market for goods.

    However, integration of financial markets has shown to be extraordinarily difficult because finance is not only a useful service for trade, but also underlies and influences closely the business cycle, price stability, growth, and income distribution. This chapter attempts to identify the likely effects of financial integration on these major variables, recognizing that the difficulties and final gains of liberalization are likely to be dissimilar for each country, depending on country size, the initial macroeconomic configuration, sophistication of its financial sector, and the degree and extent of regulations to be dismantled.

    According to the communication from the Commission to the Council of 23 May 1986, financial integration is expected to proceed in two phases:

  • The first phase aims at liberalizing those transactions linked to the proper functioning of the common market (free circulation of goods, services, and persons, as well as free establishment) and to the creation of an integrated European Community (EC) capital market (operations in securities).

  • The second phase aims at creating by 1992 a unified financial system in the Community through the removal of all the remaining restrictions and controls. The intention is to liberalize erga omnes.

    • Although it is likely that most of the gains from financial market integration will be obtained from unrestricted capital mobility, the Community objective is more ambitious. Instead of aiming at a situation where national financial markets retain their identity, albeit connected through capital flows, the Community aims at a truly integrated market. This requires not only the freedom for consumers/investors to borrow or invest funds outside of national markets but also the right for financial firms to operate and sell throughout the Community.

  • V - An Analysis of ASEAN-EC Trade in Textiles and Electronics, 1980–88

  • from PART III - IMPLICATIONS FOR ASEAN
  • Book:
    ASEAN and the EC
    Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    09 November 2017
    Print publication:
    01 January 1991, pp 129-152

  • Summary

    Introduction

    This chapter analyses the trade in textiles and electronics among the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and those of the European Community (EC) between 1980 and 1988 under three aspects:

  • Market shares: Determination of the size and growth of ASEAN shares on EC import markets. Comparison of ASEAN's market shares with those of the other Asian newly industrializing countries (NICs) on the one hand and with those of newly industrializing EC-member countries (ECL) on the other. Comparison of actual and hypothetical market shares which would have materialized if the commodity and/or regional composition of ASEAN exports to the EC had been the same as that of total EC trade in textiles and electronics (including intra-EC trade).

  • Intra-industry trade shares: Determination of the degree of bilateral trade in each product group, of overlapping of exports and imports in ASEAN-EC trade and comparison with those in EC trade with other Asian and European newly industrializing countries. The share of intra-industry trade, of bilateral transactions, as opposed to inter-industry trade, to unilateral transactions, is taken as an indicator of the importance of specific forms of vertical and horizontal specialization between ASEAN and the other NICs on the one hand and the EC on the other.

  • Export-import price differences: Relative differences between export and import unit prices within single product groups are taken as indicators of the importance of vertical specialization between ASEAN and the other NICs on the one hand and the EC on the other. Vertical specialization in this context means specific patterns of international division of labour across and within product groups: (a) specialization in the overall production of labour-, capital, or research- intensive products; and (b) specialization in labour-, capital-, or research- intensive stages of particular production processes.

    • The computations are based on EC trade statistics of 1980-88, published by the Statistical Office of the European Community (EUROSTAT).

  • I - Introduction

  • Nirmal K. Bista
  • Book:
    PTA in Intra-ASEAN Trade
    Published by:
    ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
    Published online:
    21 October 2015
    Print publication:
    01 January 1991, pp 1-2

  • Summary

    The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) are two Asian regional groupings striving for the speedy development of member countries. The ASEAN member states, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, are economically better off compared to their SAARC counterparts — Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. A late starter, the SAARC is organizationally less mature than ASEAN.

    As in the case for most regional groupings, fast changing global economic scenarios have prompted these Asian economies to form a group to help absorb the occasional shocks and enhance their economic capabilities. Even though free trade is obviously the best policy from the point of view of world welfare, preferential trading within a group to promote intra-regional trade is regarded as a “second best” policy inherent in customs union theories.

    Tariff reduction — considered as one of the many aspects of preferential trading — is generally aimed at achieving greater competition within the region, as well as increasing the size of markets, and using economies of scale eventually to lower costs. Preferential Trading Arrangements (PTA) have been adopted as one of the measures to promote intra-regional trade in ASEAN.

    This paper highlights the operation of ASEAN PTA, and identifies issues which could be of relevance to SAARC that has yet to incorporate trade co-operation in its sphere of activities.

Page 711 of 760