The Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) reveals whether women take an
active part in economic and political life, tracking gender inequality in opportunities
in selected areas, including the share of seats in parliament held by
women and the gender disparity in earned income, reflecting economic independence.
In contrast to the GDI, Thailand does not perform well on the GEM,
ranking 76th out of 109 countries in the GEM and indicating a large scope for
improvement regarding women’s engagement in economic and political life.
Female labour force participation is high, although a gender gap persists. In
2008, 81% of men, but only 65.9% of women, aged 15 years or older participated
in the labour market.
Public infrastructure
Economic growth enabled substantial government investment in infrastructure,
such as provincial and district feeder roads and communication. For example,
the percentage of paved roads increased from 50% of the total roads in 1990 to
almost 100% in 2000. This not only supported the distribution of agricultural
products and generated income for rural populations, but it also facilitated
access to health and education services. Various health and welfare surveys
reported improved access to health services by rural populations, in particular
during the 1990s. Moreover, increased household income facilitated investment
in safe water and sanitation, better shelter and healthier cooking fuels (replacing
charcoal with natural gas), improved diets and higher nutritional status.
The percentage of the population with access to improved water sources
increased from 91% in 1990 to more than 98% by 20085, with a preferential