Executive Summary

Despite an estimated population of 1 000 000 Indigenous Peoples (IPs) in Thailand (50% of which are women), the government does not legally recognise their indigenous status, obstructing the individual and collective rights of this section of the population. The IPs of Thailand, which make up 1-2% of the national population are spread mainly across three geographical regions; the Chao Ley fisher communities in the south, small groups in the north-east and east of Thailand and the many highland peoples, or hill tribes as they are referred, in the north and north-west. Over 100 000 IPs are estimated to be without citizenship however accurate numbers are missing in both total and stateless populations.

The Indigenous Women’s Network of Thailand (IWNT) was founded in 1996 to provide a gender perspective to development activities affecting indigenous communities in Northern Thailand. On the first weekend of April 2017, IWNT facilitated 27 indigenous women (IW) to gather in Chiang Mai, Thailand, for a National Consultation in preparation of this report. The National Consultation provided a forum for the participants to identify their main causes of concern in regards to the implementation of the CEDAW at the national level and the following report is a consolidation of these concerns, including a lack of all women in politics and decisions making, and a total invisibility of indigenous women in state structures.

In September 2016, the new Thai Constitution was voted in favour of by the Thai population via referendum (although since then, the King has signed a different, unseen version of the Constitution). Despite IPs submitting proposals for specific legislation for the promotion of the rights of IPs and these recommendations making it into the drafting process, this draft of the constitution was rejected. The failure of the State to formally recognise Thailand’s indigenous population has a series of implications for the indigenous women of Thailand and facilitates their ongoing discrimination. As a result, IW face a lack of access to basic social services, including; education, health care including sexual and reproductive health (SRH) care, access to information and justice, among other things.

Indigenous women are continually excluded from participation in the country’s development plans. The IW participants, during the consultation, raised that despite them being at the forefront of the effects of climate change and having already played a key role in the development of adaptation and mitigation, they were continually left out of national land local-level climate change strategies. Another policy issue raised was that of the zoning of national parks and world heritage sites over indigenous territories in recent years having had negative impacts on the well-being of indigenous communities. These policies and practices have had a specific impact on the indigenous women of Thailand, yet the Thai Government overlooks them but failing to acknowledge their indigeneity/ethnicity and the intersectional discrimination that they experience.

Ultimately, the IW of Thailand believe that their experiences can be greatly improved alongside the legal recognition of Indigenous Peoples and their rights as embodied in international human rights instruments, particularly the UNDRIP and especially their collective right to their lands, territories and resources. Whilst this is not the only recommendation that was to come from the national consultation, it was the underpinning foundation for all subsequent recommendations and was highlighted as the priority for the IW participants.

However, the realisation of legal recognition alone is not enough to truly change the conditions for indigenous women, and Indigenous Peoples in general. In addition, this report calls for: the right to citizenship of Indigenous Peoples, including their equal access to basic social services such as education, health and employment; recognition that that human trafficking is a systemic problem, specifically affecting indigenous women and focus on prevention strategies rather than palliative means of combating trafficking; a targeted and appropriate education programme for all indigenous children; establishment of a specific mechanism for full and effective participation of indigenous women in the ongoing country reforms and constitution drafting process; strengthen the office of the national ombudsman for Indigenous Peoples; ensure Indigenous Peoples’ lands are protected and Indigenous communities are adequately consulted in all matters affecting them; and finally, evaluate and align all legislation and government programs with the CEDAW and the UNDRIP.

This alternative/shadow report is divided into three sections. The first which looks at articles 1-5 and compares the reality for indigenous women in Thailand to that of the situation as presented by the State Report in 2015, including the impact of existing laws and policies on the elimination of discrimination, realisation of human rights and negative stereotyping. The second section, inclusive of Articles 6-14 focusses on three main issues facing the indigenous women of Thailand, according to the priorities set out by the participants of the National Consultation. The first issue being that of trafficking and prostitution of indigenous women (Article 6); the second focusses on the situation of IW in regards to their basic social services, mostly stemming from their lack of access to citizenship (Articles 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 16); and finally the third section which looks at land rights and natural resource management (Article 14). These categories, and everything documented within them regularly intersect to create a unique set of obstacles for indigenous women in Thailand.

You can download the report here.

Source: Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact