Indigenous women in Thailand face intersecting forms of discrimination based on gender, ethnicity, legal status, geography and poverty. They belong to over 60 ethnic groups and account for a significant part of the estimated 6.1 million Indigenous Peoples (9.7 per cent of the population). This factsheet focuses on the gender-specific dimensions of the human rights situation of Indigenous women. For the broader structural violations affecting Indigenous Peoples as a whole (legal non-recognition, statelessness framework, forest and conservation laws, corporate abuse, and reprisals against defenders), please refer to the companion factsheet on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Thailand.

During the 3rd UPR cycle in November 2021, Thailand supported multiple recommendations directly relevant to Indigenous women, including Ecuador’s recommendation 52.27 on eliminating violence against women and girls from Indigenous communities, ethnic and religious minorities, and Peru’s recommendation 52.72 on enhancing women’s access to justice including for rural and Indigenous women. Thailand also received recommendations 51.77 to 51.85 on trafficking. During its 2nd UPR cycle, Thailand noted but did not accept the recommendation to ratify ILO Convention No. 169. The 2025 CEDAW Concluding Observations (CEDAW/C/THA/CO/8) and the 2022 CERD Concluding Observations addressed intersecting racial and gender discrimination against Indigenous women.

This assessment shows that Indigenous women continue to face structural gender-specific barriers to citizenship, protection from gender-based violence, healthcare, land rights and access to justice. Whilst the Ethnic Way of Life Protection and Promotion Act B.E. 2568 (2025), which entered into force on 19 September 2025, was adopted, it does not explicitly recognise Indigenous women as a distinct group requiring targeted protection and fails to address intersectional discrimination. The Gender Equality Act B.E. 2558 (2015) continues to contain an exception under Section 17(2) on grounds of religion, national security or public safety.