Political Wives In Thailand’s Cabinet

I don’t even know whether to laugh or cry when I read the names of the women who have been appointed last week in Thailand’s new government. There are four women and thirty men in the cabinet. All of them are wives of politicians of the defunct Thai Rak Thai Party. Poonpirom Liptapanlop, Energy Minister is the wife of Suwat Liptapanlop, the banned politician from the Thai Rak Thai party, Anongwan Thepsuthin, Natural Resources and Environment Minister, the wife of Somsak Thepsuthin, former member of the banned Thai Rak Thai party. Ranongrak Suwanchawee, wife of Pairoj Suwanchawee, another banned member of the Thai Rak Thai party, a nurse by profession but got appointed to Deputy Finance Minister Post. Uraiwan Thienthong, Labour Minister, the wife of Sanoh Thienthong, former member of the defunct Thai Rak Thai Party. I support women in politics, but not in this way. The route for women to power and leadership positions in the government should be by their own capability and qualification, not because they happened to be married to well-connected politicians. It is an insult to a large number of Thai women who have fought for years for women’s equal participation in the country’s political development. It is ashamed, that a result of the last election, things had turned out this way.

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