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Day 1: Thursday 25 October

OPENING SESSION: SETTING THE TONE

The Opening Session was moderated by Ms. Virada Somswasdi, Professor of the Womenûs
Studies Center, Chiang Mai University.

Justice Yongyuth Surainsungsikul, the president of Court of Appeal, Region 5, Thailand,
welcomed participants to the meeting on behalf of the Office of Judiciary of Thailand.
He emphasized the fact that ensuring gender equality has become a national obligation
after Thailandûs accession to CEDAW. All judges, therefore, must understand and learn
gender equality in order to apply in the judicial system, in the consideration of decision
making stages. He highlighted that in order to do this, collaborative efforts and support in

developing knowledge on gender equality in justice system should be made.

After introducing Thailandûs current efforts to address gender equality issues in the judiciary
at a national as well as at a regional level including 1) a national meeting on Understanding
Feminism, Judiciary and Judicial system which will be held in November, 2) knowledge-based
products on gender justice which will be carried out with cooperation across the countries,
and 3) a study trip to the Philippines, he made an acknowledgment that this judicial colloquium

is a good and important starting point for judges from different countries to gather knowledge
for bringing about gender justice in this region.

Lastly, he thanked the participants for their participation and UNIFEM and Chiang Mai University
for their collaborative efforts in organizing this meeting.

Welcoming remarks by Dr. Pohgsak Angkasith, the president of Chiang Mai University,
followed. He opened his speech by introducing the Womenûs Study Center(WSC) in
Chiang Mai University.

WSC was established in 1986, the following year that CEDAW was ratified in Thailand,
and later officialized as the first womenûs study center in the country by a Royal Decree in 1993.
In 2000, it launched the first graduate studies program in womenûs studies at master level
and was ranked as the best and the largest in the Mekong Sub-region. Currently, WSC has planned
to extend the degree program to Ph.D.