Cultural difference or something else

Earlier this week I had the opportunity to attend an event organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Thailand. It was a lunch function with Senator Jim Webb as the speaker. Jim Webb is a relatively well known and powerful member of the US Congress and was most recently in the news due to his visit to Myanmar last weekend where he met with the Burmese leadership and secured the release of John Yettaw (the guy who swam to Aung San Suu Kyi's house). Senator Webb also had a meeting wtih Mrs. Suu Kyi while he was in Yangoon.

The point of my post is not about what Sen. Webb had to say - though that was interesting too - it is about who attended the lunch. First a bit about AMCHAM, the fact is that the majority of members are Thai, not Americans, which is something many people don't realize. As such most AMCHAM functions attract a mixed audience - mixed in terms of race, gender and age. But this event was quite different. The audience was overwhelmingly comprised of white, middle-aged men. In fact, out of the whole group - probably over 60 people - I could count the number of Thai people on one hand and the number of women on the other hand, with a bunch of fingers left over.

So why is this? Why was there such a lack of interest among several key demographics within AMCHAM in hearing this relatively senior official speak. Remember, most of the AMCHAM members either work for US companies or for companies that trade with the US. Alternatively, why was there such strong interest among older white men? Does this reflect a cultural difference or something more related to economics or politics?