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The paradox and farcical freedom of Thai women

Rasheeda Bhagat

A VISITOR to Thailand is bound to be struck by two aspects of its national life: women seem to be participating in its economy in a big way _ they are to be seen everywhere whether it is vending fresh fruits on the street or at the front end of offices. The sex industry, also manned by women, is thriving too.

Dr. Govind Kelkar, Associate Professor and Co-ordinator in Gender and Development Studies at the Asian Institute of Technology, talked at length about this dichotomy. Excerpts of an interview:

Q: Women in Thailand seem to be playing a very big role in the economy. From the airport, to the roads and beaches and the front offices of business establishments, you see them. Is their contribution to the economy significant?

A: There is a major difference between South and South East Asia. Women have the primary responsibility here for supporting the family and this comes from the matrilineal system. Unlike India where women don't have full economic rights, Thai women inheri t land and property, and the youngest daughter of the family has the responsibility to support parents.

Coming from North India, I was also amazed that women have such economic rights in this region. But that does not mean that they have equality.

Not even economic equality?

Economic equality is there but not in society and not in polity. If you look at other matrilineal systems....

You are saying matrilineal and not matriarchal, right?

Yes, matriarchy is where women have total control. Here women never have total control. In a matrilineal society women have economic rights. But with modernisation in the last 35 years or so the land has really gone from women to men. When the land was registered, it was mostly in the name of the men.

Would you say the land no longer passes from the mother to the daughter?

I would say it is bilateral... it goes to the youngest daughter but brothers have the largest control. In cities this system has totally broken down. But in the countryside you find women have control over the land.

Okay, women re participating in the economy. But is it at the lower or the higher end? Do women really have the plum or top jobs?

Not really. In businesses some women are doing very well. But in the political decision making women are not there. Now the economic rights have really become economic obligations. There is the obligation to support the family, but they don't really have decision making powers. The cash or the larger ventures would still be controlled by men. So patriarchy has been superimposed on the economic rights of women. But nothing compared to South Asia or India. It's much better.

Are politics totally dominated by men?

Yes. Hardly 30 months ago we had the first woman Governor of a small province _ Pothumtani _ and that was big news.

So Thailand is far away from the time when it will have a woman Prime Minister?

Oh yes.

One contradiction I see in this society is that when women have the opportunity to participate in the economy through various vocations, why is there such a heavy influx of women in the sex industry?

This is a very complex question and we are not able to understand the situation totally. Bangkok is now being defined _ even in the Longman dictionary about two years ago _ as a major centre for sex. There was a lot of hue and cry and this description wa s withdrawn but there was a woman in charge (of the edition) and she maintained her position.

You do find that the sex industry has grown so much... have you visited the Pat Pong area?

I did, in 1993.

You should go now also. The character has changed... it has expanded and become part of the business scene of the city. In the evenings you have the markets selling watches etc. and alongside there are sex centres. It's not a demarcated area...

You mean it's part of mainstream business?

Yes, routine business. The sex industry of Thailand is amazing and includes trafficking of children. Now it is extending to boys also _ for homosexuals. It has become much worse with the induction of children. Because of the AIDS scare, younger boys and girls are inducted into it in the hope that they would be AIDS-free.

But is this industry being patronised only by tourists or does it have local patronage?

It is said that foreigners are responsible; what with sex tours and chartered flights. But local people are involved. I would say that 90 per cent of the trade comes from locals. It's a global phenomenon, but Bangkok is amazing.

Some people say that unlike South Asia where women are kept in purdah and controlled so much, this was not the case here. And when so much of freedom is given to women, it can be misused in the market system.

Secondly, women in this industry are not the normal Bangkok girls. They are from the hill tribes who are terribly poor. The poverty aspect cannot be ignored as also the family involvement. It is mindboggling that when children pass out from primary schoo ls, the pimps go and induct them into the sex trade. There are reports of children being sold for 5000 Baht for three years. Children have given accounts that my mother accepted so much money.

What is the average age of the children getting into this trade?

Around 12 or 13.

And most of them are girls?

Oh yes, boys hardly account for one per cent.

Is it possible for girls to get out of this profession? I believe that some of them save money through their work, get out, go to a university and get a respectable job or might even get married and settle down.

I too have heard that. But not in most cases. This money thing never stops. It's three years and another two years and so on, till you are able to earn through hook or crook or till you get afflicted with HIV. It's very difficult for girls to get out. I would say one in 1,000 or 10,000 would get out and even get married. She would have built her house, become a rich woman so all the taboos break and can find a man.

In 1993, I had found that several international agencies had flooded the place with condoms and told sex workers that they should insist that clients use them. But do you think these women have control over condom use?

I doubt it. Now of course the clients might be scared of AIDS and would use condoms. I don't think in this trade control over sexuality or one's own body is possible.

Are there any figures on the number of women in the sex industry of Thailand?

Not exact figures but the numbers quoted range from 70,000 to two per cent of the young female population of Thailand. The official figure is 70,000 which nobody accepts. A million women would be more like it. Well-known organisations like Empower and Fr iends of Women are working with these women and their idea is to make it `sex work' so that they get the rights of workers and can unionise.

Which has happened?

Not yet.

Is prostitution legal in Thailand?

It is not legal and yet it is legal. This is the amazing thing. It is not recognised even a s a problem. What is illegal is trafficking in children.

How does the government look at this problem?

The government is very much involved. If there was no government involvement, it could be controlled. Many of the massage parlours which are the front for brothels are owned by ministers and officials.

The author's e-mail address

is rasheeda@thehindu.co.in

Dr. Govind Kelkar