William Klausner: Thailand must keep up its progress on gender equality

Thailand has undergone a dramatic social, cultural, economic and political transformation during the past half century. In particular, educated Thai women have reconfigured traditional conceptions of their private and public roles — to the point where Thailand now has one of the highest proportions of female executives in the world, according to surveys and research by consultants including Grant Thornton and Oliver Wyman. Many have broken into the top levels of the civil service, such as Juree Wijitwatakarn, former director of the National Institute of Development Administration, or have risen to senior levels in the business world, such as Chadatip Chutrakul, CEO of Siam Piwat, one of Thailand’s top retail and retail property developers, and Supaluck Umpujh, head of The Mall Group, Thailand’s second-largest retail chain.