Gender and Ageing in Thailand: A Situation Analysis of Older Women and Men

Gender equity and population aging are two very prominent issues in discussions related to social and economic development. Assessments of the interaction of gender and aging need to move beyond assumptions of universal disadvantage among older women and explore the experiences of both older men and women in specific social and temporal contexts. The present study contributes to such an approach by comparing the situations of older women and men in contemporary Thailand. We draw heavily on the most recent representative national survey of older persons conducted in 2007 by the National Statistical Office. Thus although there have been several previous studies of gender and aging in Thailand, our study brings the situation up to date and where appropriate, calls attention to changes that may have taken place. In conformity with the conventional definition used in most studies of aging and older people in Thailand (and developing countries generally), we define the older population as those persons aged 60 and more years.