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POTENTIAL OF LOCAL KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICES:A POSSIBILITY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT?33and raising the family, while the responsibility to earnmoney lies in the male.However, there is another observation in historydating from the pre-historic period to thecontemporary era, declaring that women had occupiedand continue to occupy a high status position in Japan.But the strength of the belief in this idea has beenvariable. Japanese mythology and other historicaldocuments lend light that Japan was initially amatrilineal community (Bingham and Gross 1987,12). It has also been acknowledged that in the years“…..572 and 770 half of the rulers of Japan werewomen,” (Giele and Smock 1977).Recently, feminist groups introduced legislation thatwould allow married couples to maintain separatesurnames, a practice which in Japanese is referred to asfufu bessei (husband and wife different-surname), butsuch legislation has not yet been passed.So, how about Thailand?When we talk about Thailand where this research tookplace, we are facing the fact that Thailand has aheterogeneous, even diverse community. The diversityin northern Thailand can be captured in the manynational ethnic groups such as Karen, Burmese, A Kha,Chinese, etc., that subscribe to Islamic, Christian, orother belief values. The people’s beliefs influence theirdaily lives, in general, and their political as well aseconomic posturing. Interaction and exchange ofculture are not rare, even in religious ceremonies.However, Thai dialects are used as major mediums ofcommunication amongst the people and Buddhism isthe religious belief of majority of the population.When it comes to the size of its population and theirparticipation in the development movement, Thailandis unique in its own way. According to the Central ofStatistic in Thailand, the total Thai population isroughly 50% men and 50% women. However, in thereal development process, there is still a gap betweenthe men and the women in certain aspects, such asemployment opportunities and income, as well aspolitical engagement and representation at the highestlevel of civil service.There are certain perspectives on how people seewomen in Thailand in their daily social life. I thinkthis is sort of a social construction although there is apossibility that belief or other forms of normativemight be inserted in the descriptions. According to theTheravada view of Buddhists, “a woman is seen to havehad bad karma or lack of merit in a previous life,” andis therefore reincarnated a female. Despite this“seemingly static view” of women’s being damned fortheir gender, “transience in gender is observed by theThai people and thus, women accept their role insociety as being temporary”.The term kulastrii refers to a woman, and can be freelytranslated in terms of her being proficient andsophisticated in household duties; graceful, pleasant,yet unassuming in her appearance and social manners;and conservative in her sexuality. Any woman can bereferred to as kulasatrii if people think she behavesaccordingly. The term might be erased at any timewhen the woman stops behaving as she should. I guessit can go away anytime a woman stops behaving theway society expects her to behave.In the Thai tradition, the status of a female can beconsidered to change when she grows up and bearschildren. At that point, she would be regarded semiformallyas mae or mother. The citation “mae” isusually not used to refer to single women. Thai menrefer to the female gender with a sense of reverence, as“the gender of mothers” (phayt mae), effectivelyacknowledging the women’s burden in childbearingand their parenting responsibilities. The ultimateinsult from Thai men is yet mae, indicating the utmostdisrespect to mothers in the Thai culture.The persistent stereotyping of females and males inThai society has been acknowledged. However, therehas been growing awareness of the impact of genderstereotypes. Women now have more roles in thetraditionally male-dominated fields. Still, mostcontemporary Thai women wholeheartedly endorsethe kulasatrii notion without resentment, regarding itas a sign of dignity and honor, a sense of culturalidentity in which they can take pride.Another idiom describing gender relation in a Thaitraditional proverb is Chai Kao-Pluenk Ying Kao-Sam,which literally means “women are fragile”. Women arebelieved to be vulnerable in terms of security andchastity. That is why women have to live their livesmore carefully (than men).The factual situation and the potential situationDuring my field research in Thailand, I personallywitnessed how a married couple worked hand in hand,both in their household chores and in their economicThe Work of the 2010/2011 API Fellows