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

The Asian country where women hold 37 per cent of leadership roles, compared with an average of 24 per cent globally, may come as a surprise.

In Thailand, women score well in nearly all measures of leadership in the corporate sphere, far surpassing most other Asian countries and gaining good marks globally.

Thai women are the driving force behind businesses across many industries, making up 40 per cent of CEOs and 34 per cent of CFOs. Thailand ranks first in the world for enrolment of women in higher education, with 1.41 women attending a university for every man.

Yet, even as women are making significant progress in Thailand’s business world, there’s a stark contrast in politics, where they are being left behind.

The nation ranks near the bottom – 181 of 193 countries – in the Women in Parliament list for 2017 by UN Women. Currently, only 13 women are part of the junta’s 240-seat parliament. There’s not a single woman cabinet minister.

The general election set for next month will highlight the lack of progress for women in politics compared with the corporate world. Of 68 aspirants for prime minister from 44 parties, eight are women.

Thai women’s involvement in family is different from other countries like South Korea and Japan, where women still run the household and hold few corporate jobs.

Women leaders have more opportunities to run corporate Thailand because the culture allows them to work alongside men in fields such as finance and insurance, while women in politics typically need the support of political parties to break into that male-dominated sphere.

For instance, women make up only about 5 per cent of the military-appointed legislature – a place where women need backing to get ahead.

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Kamonwan Wipulakorn, 56, illustrates the ability of women in Thailand to lead companies after working their way up slowly.

The CEO of One Origin, a subsidiary of one of Thailand’s largest real estate developers, started out “at the bottom” of a brokerage firm.

And in an unusual winding trajectory over three decades, Kamonwan rose through the ranks in different industries – working as an analyst in the financial industry, the chief financial officer at a petrochemical company, and the president of hotel investor Erawan Group.

“Maybe I’m lucky, but I’ve never been in a situation that I felt there’s a limitation because I’m a woman,” Kamonwan said. “I’ve never felt like they would choose a male executive over me.”

Kamonwan’s story echoes through corporate Thailand, Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy. Thai women are the driving force behind businesses across many industries and make up more than one-third of senior management positions.

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While Kamonwan has worked her way through the corporate world, many women leaders in Thailand have inherited family businesses, which is one of the key reasons for the high percentage of women leading companies in the country.

“This is the country of opportunities for women. Opportunities are here if we want to take them, so we see local businesses started and run by women,” said Supapan Pichaironarongsongkram, CEO of Chao Phraya Express Boat, a company that was started by her grandmother about a century ago.

The 74-year-old took complete control of the company after her mother died, saying that she feels it’s her “duty” to oversee the business to which her grandmother and mother had devoted their lives, and that running the low-margin ferry company is a “public service”.

She has turned the small river ferry company in Bangkok into a conglomerate that serves 17 million passengers annually, sells advertising space on boats and operates piers, malls, hotels and restaurants. Her daughter is next in line to run the company.

Another woman who inherited a family empire is Chadatip Chutrakul, 57, CEO of Siam Piwat, a mall operator founded by her late father. Yet Chadatip did not start at the top; instead her father required her to work in every position at the company, including in mall security and at the information desk.

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“It wasn’t easy, but I learned from everybody,” she said, adding that her father groomed her to take over the company though she worked in insurance companies early in her career. She said her brothers “successfully escaped” working for the family business.

Under Chadatip’s leadership, the company expanded its portfolio of malls and recently opened a US$1.7 billion riverside complex, a cornerstone of Bangkok’s efforts to develop that part of the city.

Another factor behind women’s corporate success in Thailand is that they keep working even after having children, unlike in other countries where workforce participation typically drops.

The Thai family structure has grandparents often living in the same household, or involves help from other family members or domestic workers, allowing more Thai women to remain in the labour force, said Anna-Karin Jatfors, UN Women regional director for Asia and the Pacific.

“For women who come from certain socioeconomic groups, they have been able to balance the family and career obligations and aspirations with these support networks,” Jatfors said.

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On the political front, matters are not nearly as advanced, said Juree Vichit-Vadakan, the former president of the National Institute of Development Administration, who is at the forefront of women’s studies in Thailand.

According to Juree, things are different for women in politics from business because of the party structure. National politics is historically a male domain, unlike businesses where women have participated from the start.

Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul, who has returned to Toshiba Thailand, was the first woman tourism minister and at the time was one of three women cabinet members in the male-dominated government.

She said the main difference between the world of business and politics in Thailand is the lack of support for women, though she’d like to see more women take charge in the business world as well.

“From my experience, I see that women run businesses and their households, but sometimes we let men speak on our behalf at meetings,” said Kobkarn, 58.

Similar to Kobkarn, Juree was once in government, as a member of the national legislative assembly. “Parliament is a very lonely place for women,” said Juree, who was also was part of the constitutional drafting committee. “It’s easier for men to form a coalition.”