<div> <div>The Gender Equality Act of 2015 was enacted by the junta almost three years ago now. Although the name is seemingly progressive and rosy, one of its articles contains a worrying loophole that states that actions implemented for national security or religious purposes do not constitute gender discrimination.</div> </div> <div> </div>

<div>&nbsp;</div> <div><img alt="" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4165/34654218016_9ee357b1ec_b.jpg" /></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Last month, a photo of Saudi Arabia’s Girl’s Council became viral because of one peculiarity: the total absence of women and girls in it. Thousands of Thais – including many LGBTIs – must have sniggered at the image. </div>

<div>Buku FC, a football club in the Deep South with the slogan “football for peace and equality,” has created a space for women and girls to exercise and express themselves. The team is made up of Muslim women, men, and LGBT individuals.&nbsp;</div> <p></p>

<div>Bangkok, Thailand (21 January 2016) – Women's participation and leadership must be at the core of peace and security efforts, a new study from UN Women finds.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Revealing groundbreaking new findings, UN Women and the Department of Women’s Affairs and Family Development (DWAFD), Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, of the Government of&nbsp;</div> <div>Thailand launched in Asia-Pacific the critical new report Preventing Conflict, Transforming Justice, Securing the Peace: A Global Study on the Implementation of Security Council resolution 1325.</div> <p> </p>

<div>On 16 October, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka attended a remarkable event in Bangkok organized by the YWCA to expand the advocacy on gender equality and women’s rights and symbolically pass the torch to the next generation of feminists.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>“We must be single-minded about the fact that change for women and girls more than ever before is possible in our lifetimes,” she said in her speech. </div>

<p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-6c740e3f-ff7a-2ae2-b6cf-54c44c3683a5">BANGKOK, 28 April 2015</span> - A major report from UN Women, released in seven locations globally, brings together human rights and economic policymaking to call for far-reaching changes to the global policy agenda that will transform economies and make women’s rights, and equality, a reality. It takes an in-depth look at what the economy would look like if it truly worked for women, for the benefit of all.</p>

<div>The junta-appointed parliament has passed the 2015 Gender Equality Act. The law imposes a jail term of up to six months for anyone committing gender discrimination.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The latest version of the law, announced in the Royal Gazette on 8 March, has removed controversial elements which upheld exceptions for gender discrimination in three situations where equality was not mandated. These exceptions were education, religion and the public interest.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The law will be enacted in August. </div>