Thailand’s ‘Good Daughters’ Shouldering Care and Breadwinning at the Same Time
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“It may seem common for women to support a family alone or raise children, but in fact this is also the result of long-standing structural inequality and violence.”
On the surface, Thailand does not appear to be a country with severe gender inequality. As of 2025, Thailand’s World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Gender Gap Index is 0.728 (the closer to 1, the more gender-equal), ranking 66th out of 148 countries. Its ranking is higher than Korea’s, which is 0.687 (101st). Thailand is also a place where it is relatively common for individuals to disclose their gender identity openly, to the point that the country often brings to mind transgender people and homosexuality. Intertwined with its image as a tourist destination, this perception can lead people to view Thailand as a ‘paradise for minorities’.
However, Thai activists point out that women in this country are placed in situations where they must shoulder both care and breadwinning responsibilities, and that, coupled with deep-rooted urbanrural disparities, this directly affects girls’ life trajectories. Thailand has strong matrilineal tendencies, and traditionally women have often managed household assets and provided for the family. Some interpret this culture as a background that has encouraged women’s labor-force participation. In fact, women account for 43.1% of senior management and above in Thailand’s mid-sized companies, higher than the global average (34%).
However, a strong survival capacity among women does not mean there is no patriarchal culture; social authority still rests with men. Moreover, the custom of women providing the livelihood has sometimes served to justify men’s infidelity and neglect of economic responsibility. In this situation, poor rural girls who are expected to become ‘good daughters’ drop out of school and drift into precarious urban jobs or are pushed into the sex industry. Early marriage driven by economic reasons is also serious.
At the “Will You Choose Change, or Will You Not?” forum held at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre on January 26, Usa Lerdsrisuntad (63), Secretary-General of the Association for the Promotion of the Status of Women (APSW), speaks. APSW Facebook
Flat, the women’s narrative archive of the Kyunghyang Shinmun, recently interviewed Usa Lerdsrisuntad (63), Secretary-General of the Association for the Promotion of the Status of Women (APSW) in Thailand, by email. She discussed why the challenges faced by women raising children alone are the result of structural gender discrimination, and why such problems continue to affect the next generation.
Gender discrimination in Thailand is entangled with severe urbanrural income disparities, pushing rural girls of school age into unstable or dangerous jobs. According to the World Bank, as of 2020, the rural population accounts for 49% of Thailand’s population, but 79% of people in poverty live in rural areas. The average monthly income of rural households is only 68% of that of urban households. In this situation, poor teenage girls in rural areas leave school and home to enter precarious urban jobs to support their families. Some girls choose to move to cities voluntarily to escape poverty and discrimination, but structurally they are pushed to the cities all the same. They flow into informal jobs such as restaurant workers or massage therapists, and some engage in prostitution to earn money.
An emergency shelter in Bangkok, Thailand, operated by the Association for the Promotion of the Status of Women (APSW). The APSW emergency shelter provides basic necessities such as housing and meals to women and children in crisis and supports their physical and mental recovery. Provided by APWS
-Is it common for young women in rural areas to move to cities?
“Many schoolgirls are forced to drop out before completing 9th grade (middle school level) and go to big cities to find work. Girls who move to cities often face risks of sexual harassment and sexual violence anywhereat their accommodations, on transportation, or at workplaces. Some are drawn into the sex trade via job postings recruiting massage therapists or waitresses. Some start without knowing what the work actually entails, then feel they have no choice but to accept the situation and comply. Pressure from meager income also pushes them to choose such work. Thailand has adult entertainment establishments in various forms and tiers; not only tourists but Thai men also patronize them. Thai women, regardless of age, are often mobilized into prostitution by bokers. In reality, many women migrate to work in sex establishments in major tourist destinations such as Bangkok, Pattaya, and Phuket, or go abroad, citing poverty and other reasons. Most are single mothers who must support their families, or women who need to earn money to remit to family and relatives back home.”
Some girls are also pushed into child marriage. In particular, child marriage among the poor is serious. According to UNICEF, Thailand’s child marriage rate (marriage under age 18) in 2022 was 17%, slightly higher than the Southeast Asian average of 15%, but among the bottom 20% by income it reaches 28.5%. That is, more than 1 in 4. Secretary-General Lerdsrisuntad says the problem of child marriage is directly linked to ‘beliefs in some communities that still do not value education’.
-Is child marriage common in Thai society?
“There are broadly two types of child marriage situations in Thai society. The first appears in communities where it is generally acceptable for children to marry. Some minors date and marry on their own, but there are also marriages arranged by both families. When a family is in economic hardship, marrying off a daughter is seen as reducing the household’s economic burden and as an opportunity to receive a bride price. Some girls are married to men far older than themselves, or sent to men who have previously had a family.”
-Among girls in such situations, is there a case that especially stays with you?
“I remember Kaeo, an 18-year-old girl who was transferred from a hospital to our shelter with her sick eight-month-old baby. Kaeo lived with her alcoholic mother until the age of 10, and after her mother died of pancreatic cancer, she was raised by her grandmother in central Thailand and graduated from middle school. After graduating, she worked at a local construction site, where she met her husband; they lived together and then separated. She then moved to Bangkok to care for her aunt and her aunt’s children, and there she learned she was four months pregnant. Kaeo’s case shows the reality of young women who, at a very young age, must support their families and raise children on their own.”
An emergency shelter in Bangkok, Thailand, operated by the Association for the Promotion of the Status of Women (APSW). The APSW emergency shelter provides basic necessities such as housing and meals to women and children in crisis and supports their physical and mental recovery. Provided by APWS
At the same time, traditional gendered divisions of labor impose a double yoke on women who provide for their households, saddling them with care and housework as well. According to last year’s Global Gender Gap Report by the World Economic Forum, Thai women spend about 2 hours and 39 minutes a day on unpaid work such as housework and caremore than three times men’s 47 minutes. Children born out of wedlock or after divorce are also mostly raised by women. It is known that 80% of single-parent households in Thailand are mother-only families. Many women raise children alone after divorce without receiving child support. Conversely, there are cases where women cannot divorce even while suffering domestic violence. In such circumstanceswhere poor women are pushed into child marriage or early employment, or must shoulder both care and breadwinning Secretary-General Lerdsrisuntad points out that the very fact that many women raise children alone is a product of a discriminatory structure. She also stresses that strengthening support for women and children is essential to stop the intergenerational transmission of gender inequality and poverty.
-Why is it a serious problem when a woman has to support her family alone?
“At first glance, a woman supporting her family alone may seem ordinary, but on closer look it is a form of long-standing structural violence. As economic difficulties have forced many people to struggle harder just to survive, this problem has worsened. The situation is particularly hard in households where fathers do not take responsibility. While single mothers shoulder the livelihood alone, many children are left with relatives or sent to childcare facilities. In such situations, girls are more exposed to sexual abuse. Children raised in low-income single-parent households often do not complete their education. Many teenagers, before they are ready, drop out of school and start working, start relationships, or form families. As a result, this problem triggers a vicious cycle that continues into the next generation.”
-In Thailand, is it common for men not to take responsibility for the family?
“Yes. Men feel less pressure than women to provide for the family and enjoy greater freedom. Of course, there are expectations that men should be breadwinners, but there are also men who do not take responsibility.”
-What are the underlying factors behind such violence or exploitation?
“Because patriarchal beliefs remain deeply rooted. Many women become divorced or single mothers due to violence in intimate relationships, including domestic violence. Teenagers also experience violence in intimate relationships. Such violence stems from the belief that women must obey their husbands and that men are the heads of households. Economic pressure from slumps in tourism, substance abuse, and alcoholism can also be causes of violence. When a woman becomes pregnant and her husband shirks responsibility, that too can be seen as a form of violence. Some people endure abusive relationships. If women had sufficient education or stable jobs that allowed them to be independent, they would be more likely to make different choices.”
-How do you think this problem should be solved?
“The government should support women raising children. Currently, the government provides a monthly child allowance of 600 baht (about 28,000 won·Thailand’s daily minimum wage varies by region but is around 400 baht) for low-income children aged 06, but it is not enough. Child allowances should be paid regardless of income, and the amount should be raised in line with living costs. Laws are also needed t make fathers bear time and financial responsibility for childrearing. Furthermore, acts of evading responsibility for children or failing to fulfill childrearing duties should be recognized as crimes under the Domestic Violence Act. That would allow officials to intervene and reduce the burden on women of having to file child support claims. Legislation is also needed across the education system and society to realize substantive gender equality.”
