Livelihood strategies and its impact on women in northern Thailand

Abstract

This study explores the ways in which women are choosing to participate in the contemporary Thai economy, by examining their employment choices, motives and the implications of their livelihood decisions for themselves and their families. It will be shown that Thai womena??s attainment of greater social and economic mobility vary according to the extent of their possession of the various forms of capital. In addition, their livelihood strategies are also influenced by the economic and social contexts in which they are created and manifested. It can be observed in the conflicts and negotiations which arise from their livelihood decisions that these women are in a subordinated gender position within their families and in the national and global economy. This is reflected in their obligations to the natal household and their acquiescence to the organizational practices of industrial workplaces, which fail to accommodate womena??s responsibilities in the domestic sphere.