We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
from PART II - Case Studies
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 October 2015
Klum Phuan Ying, or the Friends of Women (FOW) group, is a relatively recent organization of the 1980s run by young, educated urban women. The group has a distinct approach from those women's associations which emphasize women's traditional roles. The founding members felt at the time of its inception that most programmes of the traditional groups were based on charity and welfare, and were sometimes irrelevant to the real needs of the majority of Thai women. They believed that the government also lacked the will-power to promote women's status, specifically on the issues of women's rights.’ Thus, there was no group that was a real support or a friend to women. Contrary to most women's associations whose members came from high society, FOW was formed by young middle-class women mostly with a university education. During its early enthusiastic phase, the group once claimed itself to be the continuation of a historical struggle of Thai women which grew shortly before 1932. Even though FOW is about a decade old, it has gone through various stages of structural adjustments and funding uncertainty. Devoted now to creating awareness and providing relief, the group is moving towards stability and growth.
Historical Evolution
Around 1978-79, when student activity had subsided but their critical awareness lingered on, some women activists and academics in Bangkok felt that the existing women's organizations (both governmental and non-governmental) were not meeting the pressing needs of the majority of Thai women. Some doubted the government's will or the intentions of the various organizations formed by the “government's servants” as pointed out by one activist,
The government did not have that far-reaching vision, or the will to go into organizing women. The associations of wives of the army, the air force, or the navy were all clearly extensions of the military. The Association of Wives of the Ministry of Interior (Maharthai) which included wives of sub-district chiefs (kamnan), village chiefs (phu-yai-baan), and governors aimed to perpetuate values already existing in the society.[…]
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.
