In Thailand, women are breaking the glass ceiling in boardrooms, but not in politics

The nation ranks last – 181 out of 193 countries – on UN Women’s 2017 Women in Parliament list. Currently, there are only 13 women within the junta’s 240-seat parliament. There just isn’t a single woman minister.

Next month’s general election will highlight the shortage of progress for ladies in politics in comparison with the company world. Of the 68 candidates for prime minister from 44 parties, eight are women.

Thai women’s involvement within the family differs from other countries akin to South Korea and Japan, where women still run the household and hold few corporate positions.

Women leaders have greater opportunities to guide corporate Thailand since the culture allows them to work with men in fields akin to finance and insurance, while women in politics typically need the support of political parties to interrupt into this male-dominated sphere.

For example, women make up only about 5 percent of the military-appointed parliament – a spot where women need support to thrive.

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Kamonwan Wipulakorn, 56, illustrates the flexibility of girls in Thailand to guide corporations after slowly climbing the ladder.

The CEO of One Origin, a subsidiary of certainly one of Thailand’s largest developers, began from the underside in a brokerage firm.

Over the course of thirty years, Kamonwan rose through the ranks in a wide range of industries, working as a financial industry analyst, CFO of a petrochemical company, and president of hotel investor Erawan Group.

“Maybe I’m lucky, but I’ve never been in a situation where I felt like there were limitations because I was a woman,” Kamonwan said. “I never felt they would choose a man in a leadership position over me.”

Kamonwan’s story resonates in corporate Thailand, Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy. Thai women are the driving force behind businesses in lots of industries and hold over a 3rd of senior management positions.

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While Kamonwan has made her way through the company world, many ladies executives in Thailand have inherited family businesses, which is certainly one of the primary reasons for the high percentage of girls leading businesses within the country.

“It is a land of opportunities for women. There are opportunities if we are willing to take advantage of them, so we are seeing local businesses started and run by women,” said Supapan Pichaironarongsongkram, CEO of Chao Phraya Express Boat, an organization founded by her grandmother a few century ago.

The 74-year-old took full control of the corporate after her mother’s death, saying she felt it was her “duty” to oversee the business to which her grandmother and mother had dedicated their lives, and that running the low-margin ferry company was a “public service.”

She turned a small river ferry company in Bangkok right into a conglomerate serving 17 million passengers a yr, selling promoting space on ships and operating piers, shopping malls, hotels and restaurants. Next in line to run the corporate is her daughter.

Another woman who inherited the family empire is Chadatip Chutrakul, 57, CEO of Siam Piwat, the mall operator founded by her late father. But Chadatip didn’t start at the highest; as a substitute, her father required her to work every job in the corporate, including mall security and the knowledge desk.

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“It wasn’t easy, but I learned something from everyone,” she said, adding that her father prepared her to take over the corporate, regardless that she worked in insurance firms originally of her profession. She said her brothers “effectively escaped” from working within the family business.

Under Chadatip’s leadership, the corporate has expanded its mall portfolio and recently opened a $1.7 billion riverfront complex, a cornerstone of Bangkok’s efforts to develop this a part of town.

Another consider women’s corporate success in Thailand is that they work even after having children, unlike other countries where labor force participation tends to say no.

Thai family structures include grandparents often living in the identical household or requiring the assistance of other members of the family or domestic employees, allowing more Thai women to stay within the workforce, said Anna-Karin Jatfors, UN Women regional director for Asia and the Pacific.

“For women from certain socio-economic groups, they managed to balance family and work responsibilities and aspirations thanks to their support networks,” Jatfors said.

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On the political front, things aren’t that advanced, said Juree Vichit-Vadakan, former president of the National Institute of Development Administration, who heads women’s studies in Thailand.

According to Juree, the situation of girls in politics is different than in business resulting from the party structure. National politics has historically been the domain of men, unlike business, through which women have been involved from the start.

Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul, who returned to Toshiba in Thailand, was the primary female tourism minister and certainly one of three women in a male-dominated government.

She said the primary difference between the business world and politics in Thailand is the shortage of support for ladies, although she would love to see more women take power within the business world as well.

“In my experience, women run businesses and households, but sometimes we let men speak on our behalf in meetings,” Kobkarn, 58, said.

Like Kobkarn, Juree once served in the federal government as a member of the national legislative assembly. “Parliament is a very lonely place for women,” said Juree, who was also on the committee that drafted the structure. “It is easier for men to form a coalition.”