Mada Lee
October 17, 2013
Tuesday/Thursday (12 PM-1:40 PM)
The Women of Thailand
As an Asian American woman, I
understand the expectations that my parents have for me, and have knowledge
about our religious rules. As a woman, we are considered not as valuable as
men, and history has told us that. Religion and women’s rights plays a huge
role in Thailand’s society. These factors effects how women are treated and the
struggles they go through everyday.
Buddhism is the primary religion in
Thailand. About 92% of people living in Thailand have beliefs in the Buddha
religion (“Country Profile Thailand…”). It has hindered women to practice it to
their full advantage because nuns are always viewed as second, and the monks
are first (29, Findly). As a Thai nun, Achaan Ranjuan is far different from
what they are supposed to look like. “I do not care for the form or the
uniform. To ordain in the heart is what is important. This is convenient. I
just shave my head and wear black and white (mae chis wear all white)” (157,
Findly). Due to her gender of being a woman this is something very bold to do because
it is going against what the rules are and can cause a lot of negativity. Even
with risks of being disrespected by others, Ranjuan still manages to make a
difference; after perfecting in meditating she became a nun and taught others Dhamma;
which is the teaching of Buddhism (157, Findly). I admire Achaan Ranjuan’s
fearless personality because she is still staying true to herself.
Mae Chi Boonliang is another Thai woman
that was a nun. Based on what she said, in her tradition if a child were to be
sick, her parents will have to ask if their daughter/son can become a nun/monk
if they were to get well (297, Findly). As a woman it is very rare for her to
run a charitable foundation. She helps young ladies from low-income family to
become nuns because of their lack of opportunities. Boonliang is a very strong
woman and at the age of 65 she is still the administrator. She has a kind heart
and is willing to help her country by making sure their religion is still alive
so true happiness can be achieved (298, Findly). I admire this about Mae Chi
Boonliang because I too want to keep my culture and religion alive, which is
very difficult because as my Hmong people migrated to the United States, it is
difficult to keep the traditions vital since the majority are accommodating to
the American life style. As women we should stick out for each other and
shouldn’t let our gender hold us back from achieving anything.
Though we see women doing things
that are leading Thailand in the right way there are also things that still
needs attention to be given to. Thailand women are not having the opportunities
to learn how to read and write, and they are suffering violence such as domestic
violence, sex-trafficking, and prostitution.
Growing up children is taught not to
shame their parents’ name. Not too long ago, a Bangkok women’s rights group has
received “One out of every five female callers, who dial the numbers of the
Foundation for Women, a local non-governmental organization (NGO), do so out of
desperation, seeking assistance as victims of domestic violence.” According to
the data that had been recorded, 41% of women have been abused by their
significant other (29, Seager). With Women telling the public that they are
abused by their partner, or husband is not viewed as a good thing because as a
women we are suppose to obey are husband and not talk bad about him. So with
these phone calls increasing it must means that it has gone to the extent in
which the women are no longer able to physically and mentally handle it. These
domestic abuses include: “abrasions and bruises,
sprains and dislocations, ear and eye injuries, cuts, punctures, and bites to
fractures” (Macan-Markar). In order to help women be comfortable confessing
about their abuse and have it not be done anymore, the government along with
the communities must work side-by-side to face this issue head on.
I believe that having an education is so
important to have but Thai women aren’t having the opportunity to attend school
because the majority of their parents are farmers so the girls have to stop
schooling to help their parents with the crops, and livestock (68, Seager).
Then when it comes to later on in life without an education an individual can’t
really do much so women turns to prostitution as a way to get easy money. “…I
want to be independent and make my own money…” (Whore’s Glory). Without the
proper education they are not aware of the diseases that can be transmitted
through sexual intercourse. The film portrays women as brainwashed objects.
They are to sit in a glass room and men will come and choose them by the number
on their outfit. It really is disturbing to see because the women are hoping to
get a lot of men.
On the other hand, some women are forced
into prostitution. Sex-trafficking has been a huge problem in Thailand till
this day. It is the center for all the captured women and girls to get sent to
and Thailand is also a provider of girls to be traffic somewhere out of the
country (57, Seager). It’s likely for the women that are captured to be relocated
in a destination that they don’t know of the language because the chances of
escaping is very rare due to the language barrier. These victims are tricked
into thinking that they are going to get work in perhaps another city to help
their family out financially but the sex traffickers exploits them and have
debt for the women to pay back due to the traffickers providing transportation,
shelter, and food. Rarely, are they ever free because they will never be able
to pay back their debt and if they were lucky to be free, family members
wouldn’t claim them anymore because they are no longer “pure and clean” (Thailand).
This then leads to prostitution and rape. A statistics show that between 1,001
and 10000 rapes has taken place during 6 months in Thailand (59, Seager).
During that time 7.4 million people were affected with HIV/AIDS in South and Southeast
Asia, though the majority is male if prostitution and rape goes on without the
government enforcing and stepping in, in no time the women will also be more
affected with HIV/AIDS because of the prostitution industry growing rapidly
(49, Seager).
Factory workers of Thailand are not allow to form
union, which is taking away their human rights. Each day they are expected to produce 100 dolls per worker, which sells
at over 1000 baht (the equivalent of $31.96) but they only get 157 baht (the
equivalent of $5.02). Somboon Sirkhumdokkhae has been working in the toy factory
for over 20 years and after 10 years she got very terrible chest pain. After
meeting with the doctor, she found out that she has bysnosis, which were causes
by breathing in the dust and cotton fibers, which destroyed her lungs.
Sirkhumdokkhae still hasn’t received any medical money from her work place
Kader Toy Factory. The women are afraid to form union because the owners
threaten to fire them and with children to feed they must obey. “… they’re
poor, uneducated, no job, scared, they’ll do anything and suffer to not lose
their job…” (Made In Thailand).
The government of Thailand is trying to
put an end to all this. Their 2008 anti-trafficking act helped give $200,000 to
help with victims of sex traffickers. They’re also working with foreigners
because other women are trafficked into Thailand. On March 8 of this year,
Thailand had their International Women’s Day where they asked the government to
help with financial struggles like maternity welfare, discrimination and
counseling for victim of domestic violence (Smith).
Women everywhere deserves to be treated
with respect and equality. We as women should stand up for each other and
educate those around us along with ourselves. As Adelaide Hoodless once said, “Educate
a boy, and you educate an individual. Educate a girl, and you educate a community.”
Word Cited
"Country
Profile Thailand | OMF." Country Profile Thailand | OMF. N.p., n.d.
Web. 13
Oct. 2013.
Findly,
Ellison Banks. Women's Buddhism, Buddhism's Women: Tradition, Revision,
Renewal. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2000. Print.
MADE
IN THAILAND. Dir.
Eve-Laure Moros and Linzy Emery. Perf. Mee Pohirun,
Sombat Ubonputh, Somboon Sirkhumdokkhae.
1999. Videocassette.
Macan-Markar,
Marwaan. "INTER PRESS SERVICE." IPS – RIGHTS-THAILAND:
Battered Women, No Longer Alone. N.p., 24 Nov. 2005. Web. 07 Oct.
2013.
Seager,
Joni. The Penguin Atlas of Women in the World: Fourth Edition. N.p.:
Penguin,
2008. Print.
Smith,
Chokdee. "International Women's Day 2013 in Thailand." USA.
N.p., 08 Mar.
2013. Web. 07 Oct.2013.
"Thailand."
HumanTrafficking.org | Thailand. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Oct. 2013.
Whore's Glory.
Dir. Michael Glawogger. 2012. DVD.
I was a little confused as to how Achaan Ranjuan’s background. I think hearing more about her would be very interesting and give good insight about women in Thailand who are involved in religious activity. I was very surprised about the statistic about domestic violence. It was nearly 50%. I was curious to hear if there were any programs or corporations to help combat that. It was sad to read that women resort to awful factory work because that’s all that is offered, and often sex work. I found a link in your paper with mine as there was a great deal of sex trafficking in Vietnam as well. Hopefully that will change.
ReplyDeleteThe perspectives that you used created a very interesting and engaging blog. I liked how you talked about your personal experience as an Asian American woman and incorporated some personal elements. It was also interesting to read some individual accounts of Thai womens' personal stories and testimonies; that really added depth to your statements. Something that really stood out to me as surprising is how Buddhism plays a role in the subordination of women in Thailand. I had never really considered that, because I assumed that Buddhism was based on total equality. But now I understand how the roles of monks and male versus female roles religiously and culturally could be a basis for inequality. The statistics about sexual abuse were also very noteworthy; some shocking such as the amount of rapes accounted for within a 6 month period.
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