Despite the long-established fact that Thai women in old Siam were among those few enjoying the privilege of living in a matrilineal and matrilocal society, Thai laws rarely reflected such characteristics in their texts. Indeed, from the earliest record of Thai history, there were hardly any formal legal rules recognizing the rights of women. Thus, students of Thai family law learn how women gradually strengthened their place among men until today, from having no place to being equal to their male compatriots. All of this exists against the backdrop of a country with a relatively satisfactory track record of women’s rights. This book chapter questions whether the original strong status of women in the past has anything to do with contemporary family law in Thailand by exploring the old family laws and pointing out certain features in the laws which might explain the discrepancies between the legal text and women’s societal status. Moreover, historical analysis may also explain why there is still some unequal treatment of men and women in the contemporary family law system, even when the Constitution directly protects gender equality.