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Home / CEDAW in Southeast Asia / Thailand / State Reporting
 CEDAW Committee Concluding Observations
The key areas of concern raised by the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women at their 34th Session in January 2006 included the following:
- The State Party’s reservations, especially to Article 16 of the Convention.
- Not all discriminatory laws have been amended to ensure that the Convention is fully applicable in the domestic legal system.
- Despite article 30 of the country’s constitution, which guarantees equal rights for women and men, there is yet no explicit definition of discrimination against women in the State’s party’s legislation.
- The authority and effectiveness of the national machinery for the advancement of women.
- Remaining discriminatory provisions in the Family Law, including: that a man who has sexual relations with a girl over the age of 13 but under the age of 15, with her consent or her parents, can marry her without being prosecuted; that adultery committed by a wife constitutes grounds for divorce, while adultery committed by a husband carries a burden of proof for divorce that requires the wife to prove that he supports and honours another woman as his wife; that a betrothed man, unlike a woman, can claim compensation from any man who has sexual intercourse or has raped his betrothed.
- The low level of women’s participation in public life and decision-making bodies, particularly in the House of Representatives, the Senate, local government councils and at the international level - no provision in laws and regulations exists for temporary special measures to increase women’s participation in public life.
- The draft Domestic Violence Act does not adequately tackle punishment for perpetrators, and focused on reconciliation and family unity to the detriment of the right of women to live free from violence; the Penal Code allows impunity for husbands who rape their wives.
- The persistence of strong gender stereotypes about the roles and responsibilities of women and men in the family and society.
- The persistence of trafficking in women and girls despite new legislative and policy measures to combat it; the rise of the sex tourism industry which fuels the human trafficking trade.
- Certain provisions in the Nationality Law that continue to discriminate against Thai women who marry foreign men – for example, while Thai men can extend their citizenship to their foreign wives, Thai women can only do the same for their foreign husbands if the latter reside in the country for more than five consecutive years.
- The situation of rural and hill tribe women who lack access to adequate nutrition, sanitation, healthcare, education and income-generation activities.
- The situation of Muslim women in the southern part of the country who also lack access to education, social security, healthcare and economic opportunities, and who are subject to harmful cultural practices such as early marriage.
- The legal status of women in the country, including those from hill tribe communities who face complex procedures to obtain citizenship, and many refugees who do not enjoy legal status.
- The lack or insufficient use of contraceptives, leading to unsafe abortions; women also continue to bear the primary responsibility for family planning.
- The high rates of HIV/AIDS among women, especially among those engaged in prostitution.
- The lack of sex-disaggregated data in regard to many provisions of the Convention.
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