Women’s Roles in Thailand
This last part of The chapter will briefly discuss two topics relevant to the roles of women in Thailand: Thai women's social status and their political and legal status.
Thai Women's Social Status
Talking about women's roles in Thailand, one has to keep in mind that the social framework influencing the present roles of male and female an Thailand is patriarchal the wife is expected to look nice, to be obedient and royal to the husband, to manage the house hold chores and to take care of her husband and the children. Women in this society are highly regarded and respected as mother and wife. Until the second half of the twentieth century, women stayed at home as housewife, but, nowadays, they are “working women.” Working full-time, women are still expected to be responsible for the previously mentioned duties. However, the wives hold the upper hand in most families judging from the fact that they usually are the ones who hold the purse of strings of the families. While a Thai male might be dominated by his own woman in the domestic domain, the male-dominating role is exhibited in the public domain. The wife should never exercise her dominance over the husband outside at the domestic realm. If so, her husband will suffer the loss of face in public, which in turn, in various degrees, could affect the husband and wife relationship.