Terminating the recruitment of female cadets is a step backward for gender equality, say critics, but the police are standing their ground on the policy and insist that despite the move, the role of women in the police force will not be phased out.

After a decade of enrolments, no more women will be accepted to study at the Royal Police Cadet Academy (RPCA). On August 28, the Royal Thai Police (RTP) wrote to inform the RPCA of the immediate enrolment cancellation, sparking uproar from politicians and rights activists. However, the RTP insisted that the cancellation has nothing to do with women's place in the police force. 

The Aug 28 RTP order means the 280 seats reserved each year for female cadets will be scrapped. Like male recruits, young female police cadets must be at least a graduate of Mathayom 4 (10th grade). Before they enter the RPCA, they must have completed their studies and training at the Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School (AFAPS) for three years.

National police chief Chakthip Chaijinda said the cancellation stems from an armed forces regulation which requires that police cadets be graduates of the AFAPS. Since the AFAPS no longer admits women to study, there is no room for female recruits in the RPCA.

"But this has nothing to do with gender discrimination or curbing women's rights. The RTP still offers job openings for women, just as we've always done," he said.

Pol Gen Chakthip said the RTP was increasing the headcount of female inquiry officers in charge of criminal cases related to youth and women. This is an area in which the female officers have excelled.

Krissanapong Futrakul, an assistant professor of police study at the RPCA, said female cadets go through the same training as male students. But after graduation, female cadets are governed by regulations that they be allocated to work in only one capacity -- as inquiry officers -- which is less demanding.

Decision-makers reasoned that the RTP should not have to spend money and time training women for years only to end up placing them in inquiry positions, which could be filled by female graduates of other educational institutes. The non-cadet female officers are typically trained for four months before they prepare to join the inquiry units.

Pol Lt Col Krissanapong said some female cadets complained they had to be trained just as hard as the men although their career path would not take them as far. Female cadets unhappy with inquiry positions asked to be transferred to other state agencies. He said the women should not have to attend cadet school and be subject to vigorous training which may not be applicable to an inquiry job.

"The cadets are trained for a month in the jungle. Is that still relevant?" he asked. In the past, jungle training was used to build a cadet's stamina and prepare them for hunting criminals hiding in the forests. But now crimes are mostly committed online. "So the way we educate the cadets must also change," Pol Lt Col Krissanapong said.

A senior police officer in the Central Investigation Bureau, who declined to be named, said women are more skilled and better suited than men for certain police branches. An alumni of RPCA Class 50, the officer said co-education has had its drawbacks. Some female cadets were known to become romantically involved with male students, which hurt the grades of both cadets.

"But it's also true that women cadets are part of RPCA's charm," he said.

One police woman, who also holds a master's degree in law, said female inquiry officers are essential in handling sex crime investigations and other sensitive cases. She disagreed with the cessation of female admissions to the RPCA, saying field training helps police cope better with the pressures of work.

Rachada Dhnadirek, a former Democrat Party MP for Bangkok, said cancelling the female cadet intake was a disservice to women in security protection jobs. In a Facebook message, she explained more women should study to be cadets since women are both offenders and victims of many crimes. It baffled her that the RTP neglected the value of women's roles in the police force. Ms Rachada urged Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, in his capacity as chairman of the national committee on the promotion of gender equality, to intervene in the matter.

Ruengrawee Pichaikul, director of the Gender and Development Research Institute, said Gen Prayut will find himself in a tight spot having to speak on gender equality in the Asean forum next year if the female cadet enrolment issue is not resolved.

"Women have the right to choose what they want to do for a living and that right should not be curtailed by male biases," she said.

Research shows that women represent 7% of the police workforce in Thailand, compared with 20% in the Philippines, 18% in Malaysia and 30%, the world's highest, in Sweden. In many countries, policewomen have been credited with putting together investigations that have led to court victories for female victims in sex abuse cases.

Ms Reungrawee said that policy-makers in the government must explain why the admission of women in the RPCA suddenly stopped.

"This backward thinking defies the global trend towards greater recognition of women in the workplace," she said, adding that the cancellation contravenes both the constitution and the Gender Equality Act.