From the army’s new practice of categorizing male-to-female transgendered people as people with a gender identity disorder (as opposed to being mentally ill) to Thai Airways presenting its flight attendants with an ultimatum to lose weight within a year or be dismissed, discrimination and hiring policies have recently featured prominently in the media. But for those routinely turned down for employment on account of their gender, sexual identity, HIV status or physical disability, discrimination is an age-old reality.

While the Thai constitution contains certain inclusive paragraphs, they are vague and don’t cover several key grounds for discrimination. Of the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) eight conventions, Thailand has not ratified three, chief among them convention C.111, which promotes equality of opportunity and forbids “any distinction, exclusion or preference made on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin.” Without this convention, private companies are practically free to discriminate in their hiring process. A glance at the classified ads of any of Thailand’s major newspapers will feature explicit preferences like gender, national origin, age range and even perceived “pleasant appearance,” as well as the never-questioned request for a personal photograph along with the initial application, even before the candidate has been interviewed and/or shortlisted. More importantly, the lack of legislation—and enforcement—on the part of the government for most cases means that those discriminated against have no recourse to legal action or access to equality.

Ahead of Labor Day celebrations (May 1), we speak to job seekers, activists, lawmakers and the ILO, in order to examine various grounds for discrimination and what measures, if any, are in place to prevent it.

The Glass Ceiling

Walk into a typical Thai office and you’ll find yourself in a sea of desks and cubicles with young, intelligent women in their 20s and 30s, answering phones and shooting off emails. Past them are a handful of executive offices, occupied largely by men. Nelien Haspels, gender specialist at the ILO, says, “Discriminatory attitudes and practices pervade workplaces and are accepted in society as a fact of life, despite existing legal provisions.”

She adds, “The types and levels of jobs, and the level and regularity of earnings that women and men have access to, differ. However women still make up the buffer workforce within labor markets, as flexible and expendable workers.“

According to statistics gathered by the ILO in 2000, there were roughly 33,499 male doctors in Thailand and only 28,591 females. When it came to nurses and midwives, however, there were just 8,066 males and a whopping 111,567 females. In the business sector, there were roughly 16,404 male directors and chief executives and only 7,515 females. But when it came to secretaries and typists, there were 48,514 women, compared to just 15,807 men.

In terms of wages, too, the gap persists. Male accountants, for example, made an average of B27,000 per month and females only B21,900 in 2006. Even in primary education, largely stereotyped as work appropriate for females, male kindergarten teachers made an average of B7,000 more per month than their female colleagues.

Then there is gender discrimination that cannot be quantified. In the latest development in Thai Airways’ controversial bid to have their flight staff lose weight, the airline now aims to expand their flight staff by 290 women and 178 men. On the surface, it appears that women have an advantage in this situation. But candidates are required to be under 25 years old and have “standard body mass index.” The bizarre assumption that glamor is essential to the airline industry (or that curvier people are slow in emergencies) is unquestioned and the unfair perception that presentable, professional women are youthful and slender persists.

21.6%

Percentage of directors of companies registered at the Stock Exchange of Thailand in 2006 who were female, according to a joint study by the UN and the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security.

139

Number of female directors of companies registered at the SET, out of a total of 624.

35%

Companies with female directors registered at the Ministry of Commerce.

Wheelchairs Not Allowed

According to a 2007 study by the ILO, three percent of the Thai population has some sort of disability. Yet only 35% of them over the age of 15 are employed, and of those who are employed, only a small minority work in professional occupations. The rest are involved in rural farming and fishing. Ironically, disability is an issue that is covered extensively by Thai law. This discrepancy between the law and the reality highlights the fact that equal employment is not always a matter of creating laws, but more a question of implementing them and raising awareness and sensitivity among employers.

Regarding this divide, the ILO’s subregional coordinator on disability, Emanuela Pozzan, says, “The laws provide many options. However, due to stereotypes, little knowledge on the topic and practical accessibility issues, employers still do not know much about it and tend not to employ persons with disabilities.” The same seems to go with the legal mechanism in service of those discriminated against. It exists, but, Pozzan says, “Not many people know about this mechanism and sometimes it is slow. Not many cases have been treated so far.”

Wiriya Samsiripongpan, a blind professor at Thammasat University and a staunch advocate of equal employment, points out that some companies have also found creative ways to avoid hiring persons with disability. “For example, a company needs someone skilled in computers. Someone in a wheelchair may be good with computers, but the company may refuse to accept such people by further stipulating in the ad that successful candidates must have a driving license, claiming that the office is located far from the city center.”

Even in the case of open-minded employers, successful applicants who have disabilities are difficult to come by because the city and most workplaces are unsuited to their needs. More significantly, the disadvantage begins early in life, when children with disabilities are largely unsupported at school and during vocational training. Ajarn Wiriya says, “When I was a child, I had no place to study, because public school did not accept me. Sam Saen Academy used to accept blind students, but when there was a new director, they stopped.”

Dr. Phrommin Sitabut, an advisor of the Commission of Labor, hopes to create and garner support for laws that will benefit persons with disability in three ways. “The first thing is education. A child with a disability should have a chair suitable for his body or a book written in Braille. The facilities have to be efficient in order to equalize the differences between him and other students. The second thing is that he must be able to go anywhere, like a normal person. Buses and buildings must provide facilities for him. The third is that he has to receive special care when he goes to the hospital because he is confined in some way. If these three things happen, people with disabilities will become more like everyone else, able to study, work and take examinations.” Unfortunately, introducing new measures is a process fraught with opposition. Dr. Phrommin says, “It’s too bad there is no MP who has a disabled child, or else we’d have a lot more measures in place. But honestly, the law is not the best solution. Our conscience is. In a truly Buddhist society, there would be no need for these laws.”

In the meantime, the battles for equality are few and hard-won, often due to appeals to compassion. Ajarn Wiriya recalls when he applied to teach at Thammasat: “When I was first taking the exam, some professors opposed it. They said, ‘Don’t we have enough seeing professors? Why do we have to hire a blind professor?’ Luckily I had the support of some other professors, who lobbied for me. But most disabled people won’t be so lucky and will face even more discrimination than me.”

43%

Percentage of men with physical disabilities who have employment in Thailand.

28%

Women with physical disabilities who have employment in Thailand.

Straights Only Please

The Thai army has been in the news for the terminology it’s been using for transgendered women during the conscription process. But to Yollada Suanyod, television personality and president of TransFemale, the issue of language is moot. “The real problem lies in the treatment we receive during conscription. In my personal experience, the soldiers asked me to take off my shirt, even though I begged them not to. I felt really embarrassed because at that time I had already had breast surgery. They asked to examine my sexual organs. I wouldn’t have minded having the process done by doctors, but there were ten other soldiers in the room, too. They treated us like a joke.”

Bangkok has a strong reputation as a haven for gays and the transgendered, mostly in comparison with Singapore and predominantly Muslim countries like Malaysia and Indonesia. Indeed, there are transgendered women on TV, winning beauty pageants or acting as clowns on comedy shows. But for every trans woman who is in the media or in a salon, many more have little access to employment in offices in the upper echelons of business, least of all in executive positions, not to mention the disproportionate number of trans women forced to work in bars and clubs or as prostitutes. Richard Howard of the ILO says, “There is a reasonable sized transgendered population, many skilled and some well educated, but they basically have few opportunities to get decent jobs.”

While Thai employment law can broadly be interpreted to include trans women—and visibly gay men and women—companies who refuse to hire them due to prejudice are not required to state their reasons when turning down applicants. Jetsada Taesombat, coordinator of the Thai Transgender Alliance, recalls her own experience, “After I graduated, my two female friends and I applied for jobs at the same company. They were hired but I wasn’t, even though we had similar qualifications. Later, I found out that there weren’t any transgendered people working in the office, so I knew why they didn’t hire me.” While labor law may be inclusive (though not explicitly so), transgendered people aren’t always empowered by knowledge of their rights. Jetsada says, “There aren’t many cases of transgendered people suing their employers because they don’t really realize that their rights have been violated. There are very few cases that appear in courtrooms.”

Moreover, the lack of more fundamental legislation pertaining to documentation has repercussions on their career paths. While some other countries permit transgendered people to retroactively change their sex on legal documents, Thailand does not, causing enormous bureaucratic headaches. Yollada recalls, “Once I had applied for a scholarship in Sweden. I passed the written exam, but failed the interview because the committee was concerned there would be a problem with my documentation. My identity card still has Mr. in front of my name, even though I look like a normal woman.” Incidentally, allowing retroactive changes from male to female on legal documents would also avoid the issue of transgendered women facing army conscription.

Give Us Your Blood

All of this is to say nothing about trans men—summarily categorized as toms, with little distinction between lesbians and transgendered men—who are not part of the discourse surrounding the third sex. Or casual discrimination against male or female homosexuals which can occur during the hiring process at the employer’s discretion.

According to a UNAIDS survey done in 2008, 1.4% of Thailand’s overall population is HIV-positive. The majority of these people, roughly 600,000, are of working age. A year later, an unrelated survey, done by the People Living with HIV Stigma Index in 2009, showed some disturbing trends. Of the 233 HIV-positive Thais surveyed, only 16.5% had full-time employment. A third of the respondents had lost their jobs because of their HIV status, and 26% had been turned down for jobs.

In 2004, the Asia Pacific Network of People Living with HIV reported that Thai workers with HIV have had their duties changed or scaled back since discovery of their status, have been offered early retirement and even lost prospective promotions. Just as bad, many have experienced harrassment from their co-workers. A young professional, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said, “I was working at a bookstore on a BTS station. I didn’t tell them about my health. But I asked my ex-coworkers about their feelings on working with an HIV-positive person and what I heard was negative.”

In conjunction with the Prime Minister, the ILO developed the National Guideline on the Prevention and Management of HIV/AIDS in the Workplace in 2009. The guideline aims to ensure, among other things, that HIV blood tests are not a requirement during the application process, that offices keep personal data confidential and support their HIV-positive employees to work and advance like their peers. But as is the case with many preventative measures, there is a problem with implementation. No inspection committee is in place to enforce this guideline, and many employers, particularly factories, continue to require HIV blood tests of their applicants. But Anthony Pramualratana, executive director of the Thailand Business Coalition on AIDS (TBCA) believes that knowledge will be more instrumental than lawmaking. “Malaysia and the Philippines both have laws, but they’re impossible to enforce. Knowing the facts is the best way, because companies that have accurate information make good management decisions.“

It Gets Better?

Gender
Nelien Haspels says, “Progress has been made in addressing gender equality in Thai laws. Major laws such as the 2007 Constitution and the 1998 Labour Protection Act, with its 2008 amendments, incorporated more clearly the gender equality principle and prohibit direct gender discrimination, although some discriminatory provisions exist in Thai family law.” Furthermore, the Gender Equality Act is currently in the works, with the cabinet supporting it. Unlike many previous measures, this act will emphasize close monitoring of the issues with a discrimination investigation mechanism and more funding towards promoting equality. This act was to be considered by the House of Representatives but the plans for dissolution could postpone it.

Sexual Identity
Jetsada says, “My goal is the elimination of titles: you shouldn’t have to say if you are male or female. Your ID number should be enough.” On the other hand, the Commission of Labor sees transgender rights as falling outside its domain. Dr. Phrominn Sitabut says, “We haven’t considered this issue. We think the problem of the disabled, the poor and the elderly is more important. Transgendered only lack the right to be the sex they want to be.”

HIV Status
The Thailand Business Coalition on AIDS has developed a Code of Practice for the Prevention and Management of HIV in the Workplace. This code looks develop the existing National Guideline and make it more specific. Currently, 8,000 companies, out of 380,000 registered companies in Thailand, have joined a sensitivity training program offered by the TBCA. Anthony says, “It’s good for business. Shareholders and consumers might not buy from a company that discriminates.”

Physical Disability
An existing National Commission for the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities now has an additional sub-committee which will be responsible for specific disputes having to do with discriminatory practices in the workplace. Currently, there is only one case under consideration, as laws protecting the disabled are relatively new, and people are not fully aware of their options. Dr. Sumeth Ritthakani, president of the Commission of Labor says, “People don’t know what law has been enforced, even those who are working on petitions. People protest to get [new] laws, but they don’t actually follow up on it. In fact, we don’t need more laws on this subject.”

BK ASKS:
What's your opinion on the Thai Airways policly that forces their flight attendants to lose weight?

Kwanrattana Songsathaporn, 24, postgraduate student
I don’t think flight attendants need to be very beautiful. What they need is good personalities. Why are they trying to control their waist size? Are they trying to save money on uniforms?

Peerasit Kanthiwai, 46, hotel manager
It’s normal for the company to set certain rules for their employees. However, it’s not that easy to lose weight; we all know that. And I think physical appearance is only one small part of a good air hostess. The most important thing is a service mind. Plus, I think executives can use this policy to persecute employees they don’t like, finding ways to prove that they are overweight in order to demote them.

Chomnapas Sasirawut, 26, office employee and former ground hostess
I think it’s a good policy which will help raise the standard of flight attendants because, from my experience, if they’re too big, it will seem like they’re not active and not able to help the passengers when needed. But they don’t need to be that thin. They only need to look strong and agile. Personally, I don’t think appearance is directly related to the quality of their work, but it does make passengers feel comfortable. It’s not essential, but if it’s possible for flight attendants to look their best, they should.

Thanesuan Boonprasit, 40, motorcycle driver
For a long time, the image of an air hostess has always been beautiful. If they are too chubby, they won’t look good or energetic. If they are good looking, it’s pleasant for passengers. Personally, I think a person who is not beautiful can be a flight attendant, but the airways might not think like that. They would rather maintain the image of flight attendants as angels. Also, they might think it’s easier to train a pretty woman than to make a skillful woman prettier.

Mayuree Kantharadusadi, 49, online retailer
I don’t think good looks matter much. Their personality, cheerfulness and behavior come first. Still, it’s undeniable that good-looking flight attendants are delightful sights for passengers but I don’t think flight attendants need to be very beautiful, just good-looking is enough. So if they’re a bit plump, it’s no big deal. But if they are too fat, they don’t look good and they can look inactive, so I do think they should maintain their weight.