Orapin Chaiyakan

{{Short description|Thai schoolteacher; first woman to be elected to National Assembly (1949)}}

{{Infobox person

|name = Orapin Chaiyakan

|native_name = อรพินท์ ไชยกาล

|native_name_lang = th

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|birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1904|05|6}}

|birth_place = Ubon Ratchathani, Siam

|death_date = {{Death date and age|1996|01|1|1904|05|6|df=y}}

|death_place = Bangkok, Thailand

|nationality = Thai

|other_names =

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|occupation = {{hlist|Politician|teacher}}

|known_for = First woman elected to the Parliament of Thailand

| party = Democrat Party

|spouse =

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}}

Orapin Chaiyakan ({{langx|th|อรพินท์ ไชยกาล}}) (born May 6, 1904) was a Thai politician and teacher. She was born in Ubon Ratchathani, studied education in Bangkok,{{Cite web |date=2020-03-11 |title=Celebrating the Thai female heroes you probably didn’t know about - Thai Enquirer The Culture Blog |url=https://www.thaienquirer.com/9371/womens-history-month-the-thai-female-heroes-you-probably-didnt-know-about/ |access-date=2022-05-24 |website=Thai Enquirer |language=en-US}} and served as headteacher of Narinukun School from 1924 to 1940. She was the first woman to be elected to hold a post in the Parliament of Thailand. Specifically, she was elected to become a member of the House of Representatives of Thailand on June 5, 1949.Sopchokchai, Orapin. [http://www.tdri.or.th/library/quarterly/text/d98_2.htm Female Members of Parliament, Women's Political Participation at the National Level] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724112815/http://www.tdri.or.th/library/quarterly/text/d98_2.htm |date=2011-07-24 }}, Women's Political Participation in Thailand, TDRI Quarterly Review, Vol. 13, No. 4, December 1998, pp. 11-20Iwanaga, Kazuki. [http://www.lu.se/images/Syd_och_sydostasienstudier/working_papers/Iwanaga.pdf Women in Politics in Thailand] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120317050956/http://www.lu.se/images/Syd_och_sydostasienstudier/working_papers/Iwanaga.pdf |date=2012-03-17 }}, Working Paper No. 14, Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund University, Sweden, 2005 She was elected as a representative for Ubon Ratchathani Province.Statistical Booklet on Thai Women and Men, page iv, National Statistical Office, Office of the Prime Minister, 1995 She was a member of the Democrat Party.