“Sport for Development and Peace” (SDP) is a concept that has become widespread in the 21st century. In 2014, the Japanese government started the “Sport for Tomorrow” project as an international contribution and strengthened its cooperation with the ASEAN region. However, SDP has received many criticisms regarding “recolonization”. When tackling gender issues, there is a contradiction in promoting sports that embody male superiority and heterosexism (Saavedra, 2009). Thailand is both a collective society and a feminine society (Hofstead et al., 2010). Traditionally, women and men have been treated equally, but motherhood is a valued role of women, and various forms of sexual expression have become socially acceptable (Hanami, 1995; Sinnot, 2004; Thawaeesit, 2004). Gender norms that differ from the West have been observed in Thai society. Although the Thai government has integrated sports as a national strategy, its understanding of sports as a tool for fostering gender equality remains unclear. Therefore, this research was conducted to investigate the gender norms observed in sports by sports-related policymakers in Thailand, and the way in which sports-related policymakers perceive the role of sports in achieving gender equality in Thailand?
　Applying phenomenological and case study approaches, data were collected via government-published documents and semi-structured interviews with 5 policymakers. The data were analyzed using phenomenological coding.
　Although sports policymakers recognized fundamental gender equality, they tended to assume male superiority in sports, and strong heterosexism was observed. Female athletes were still expected to be good wives and mothers in order to maintain Thai femininity. Girls’ participation in sports was affected by parental attitudes because of Thailand’s strong seniority culture. Sports policymakers recognized that sports could expand women’s education opportunities because athletes gain advantages in entering a university and even in obtaining scholarships.
　The present findings suggest that sports policymakers in Thailand fail to recognize structural gender inequality in sports. In Thailand’s collective and feminine culture, reconsideration of expected roles in the family could fully liberate women, allowing them access to sports as an entry point for social inclusion. Additionally, if the only gender equality role of sport is seen as expanding education opportunities, then this suggests that sports policymakers may lack a comprehensive grasp of gender issues.

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