It’s ironic how Thais no longer have a vote
Re: Britain’s first female MP was a gun-toting Irishwoman (Have Your Say, 24th February)
I don’t mind Dr Frank’s elaborate and archaic prose, so long as he comes up with interesting historical information, such as the colourful career of Constance Marciewicz.
I would like to add another interesting historical fact: which was the first country in the world to give men and women the vote at the same time and without any prior agitation or demands? Yes, that’s right, Thailand. The Local Administration Act of 1897 gave men and women the right to vote in village elections. Well, you might say that doesn’t really count, they weren’t voting in Parliamentary elections, but in 1897 there wasn’t a Parliament as we know it in what was then Siam. Despite that, a form of democracy was established where it mattered, at the village level, where the majority of people presumably lived at that time. That’s something for all Thai people to be proud of but here we are, 121 years later, and no one has a vote. What’s gone wrong?
Robin Grant
