Thailand: a changing culture

“I love my work,” Rasamee exclaims, quickly sketching her role as chief advocate for sustainable development within Thailand’s leading telecommunications company. It’s a high-pressure job with long hours. She must strategize with managers and corporate board members on what could be fundamental changes in the way the company does business over the longer term.

But she’s up to the challenge just five months after giving birth to her first child.

It’s a far cry from the era of her grandparents, who emigrated to Thailand from China, and believed that school was for boys and home was for girls.

Rasamee has a degree in economics and international business, urged on by her mother, who only finished school through fifth grade.

Growing up, Rasamee watched her parents struggle financially. Her mother worked at home and her father sought jobs in construction, but was often derailed by illness.

“I am lucky that today I have more opportunities because of my parents’ support,” she says.

Rasamee thrived as a professional for many years before even thinking about getting married, not long before having her first child.

“The culture has changed,” she says. “Women can work and take care of themselves and don’t need to rely on their husbands.”

Support for that freedom comes from the information about family planning that is widely available and routinely taught in schools. Contraception is available in practically every corner shop. “Our Government has promoted this so much,” Rasamee says. She believes that “no one is embarrassed to talk about it.”

After giving birth, she was so eager to return to her job that she took only two months for maternity leave, despite a corporate provision allowing three.

She plans to have another child, but not the three or four that used to be common in her community.

“My husband also works—we would never have enough time for that many babies!” she laughs.

The two are already working together on an education fund for their newborn, and her husband has a plan to expand his business to sustain the costs of a growing family.