Women rule banking in Thailand

Washington

AS ONE of four presidents at Thailand's biggest lender, Kasikornbank, Kattiya Indaravijaya often conducts interviews for senior positions.

The job candidates are impressive. And almost always, they're women. "I'm wondering, there's no guy?" Ms Kattiya, 51, said in an interview in her office along the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok. "It's not that they didn't pass the screening process, they didn't apply. Perhaps women's interest is in banking and finance. Perhaps guys have a different passion."

In Thailand, where years of educational equality have combined with a profession that rewards math skills and merit, women comprise 31 per cent of board and executive c…