These five women entrepreneurs from the Gen.T List are smashing Thailand's glass ceiling with their boundary-breaking startups
There are only nine countries in the world where women's entrepreneurial behaviour is at a level equal to or greater than men's—and one of them is Thailand. According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report, the country achieved gender parity in 2019.
A major factor, no doubt, is the positive perception of entrepreneurship in Thai society. Running your own business is seen as a good career choice in Thailand, according to The Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs Report 2019, regardless of gender.
Despite this, the funding gap—the amount of investment needed to develop a business versus what's available—for women-owned SMEs is estimated to be US$25 billion, accounting for 61 percent of the overall micro and SME funding gap in Thailand, according to Pacific Vivek Pathak, IFC's regional director for East Asia and the Pacific.
Women-owned SMEs face specific challenges in obtaining financing in Thailand, such as higher collateral requirements and lower acceptance rates, says Pathak, which contributes to women's lower participation in the global labour market as a whole—nearly 27 percentage points lower than men.
In the face of these discouraging figures, a new generation of Thai women are overcoming gender-based deterrents and breaking Thailand’s glass ceiling. Here are five women from the Gen.T List who are doing just that.
See also: 5 Women Entrepreneurs You Need To Know In Malaysia
Nalutporn Krairiksh
Nalutporn Krairiksh founded ThisAble.me, a nonprofit online platform that publishes human interest stories and news, with a focus on multimedia reports regarding disability rights, to provide Thailand with access to media from the perspectives of less reported groups. She previously worked for nonprofit online newspaper Prachatai covering gender equality, and was also a founding member of the Future Forward Party, which gained countrywide traction in the recent Thai elections.
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