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#1
04-05-2005, 14:30
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Poverty forces Thai women into foreign marriages
Poverty forces Thai women into foreign marriages
BANGKOK: -- Most Thai women from Thailand's north-eastern region who enter into marriages with foreign men do so to escape the vicious cycle of poverty, but are keen to distinguish themselves from hired brides or prostitutes, according to research published yesterday. Although it is based on a study in a single north-eastern village, the report by Dr. Rattana Boonmathaya from Mahidol University has wider resonances in a society in which marriage to foreigners is a popular option. The particular village chosen for the study is noticeable for the fact that nearly one in three of the 330 women aged 20-59 resident there has chosen to marry a foreigner, with 96 percent having married men from Switzerland. Also notable is the fact that most of the foreign men are 10-18 years older than their Thai brides, and that the majority of both husbands and wives have already gone through previous marriages. Although the research points to a number of reasons that the women choose to marry foreign men, the most common appears to be the desire to escape from the poverty trap and the feeling among the women that they need to provide money for their families. But the women also stress that financial considerations are not the only ones at play, saying that foreign men are less likely than they Thai counterparts to be concerned about past relationships or virginity, and have a greater sense of responsibility. But the women acknowledge that the society often views them in a negative light, as 'hired brides' or even prostitutes, a view shared even by the village's older residents. "The villagers here aren't happy that people link marriage with foreigners with hired brides. Lots of people fear that the village's reputation has suffered. Older people are trying to fight back by saying that the village is a moral one", Dr. Rattana says. The popularity for marrying foreign men appears to have become so strong among women in the village that Dr. Rattana fears that it has become a 'fashion', with the majority of girls of primary school age replying that they want to marry a foreigner when asked what they want to be when they grow up. What is particularly interesting is that many parents in the village now favour daughters over sons, as girls as perceived as being better able to provide for their families. Indeed, some older people even say that they do not want sons at all, describing them as 'useless'. For the women themselves, marriage to a foreigner provides mixed blessings. "The women who are wives of foreign men describe it as miraculous that there are still people who value their bodies, despite the fact that they have already been married and widowed. They feel that someone has given them power for a second time. But the men in the village are afraid that their status has dropped compared to women". The 'miracle' of marriage, however, is tempered with warnings. One woman married to a German man and now resident in Switzerland says: "I am lucky to have found a new husband, but I would caution other Thai women who think that marrying a foreigner will give them nothing but a good life". The woman interviewed says that some Thai women are disappointed with their foreign marriages, to the extent that they sometimes suffer mental health problems. She also warns that living abroad requires massive adjustments, and that the first phase of life abroad can be a lonely one. She also says that most Thai women meet their foreign husbands in their own workplaces, with 54 percent meeting in entertainment venues where the women are employed. A further 20 percent meet through networks of relatives, while 20 percent meet by coincidence or from tourism. 
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#2
04-05-2005, 15:01
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interesting article
the 96% swiss is strange would think a more different mix would be normal. and the 10 to 18 yearsdifference interesting men like younger girls I guess.
__________________
MAY THE BEER BE COLD AND ALL YOUR BETS WINNERS 
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#3
04-05-2005, 15:20
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It's good that a trend seems to be developing I would say a good percentage of farang women still marry for security it seems fairly high on the agenda.
What does this say about Swiss women. 
__________________
Always play to win!
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#4
04-05-2005, 18:53
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very interesting article,
my sister runs a kids playgroup ,one of the mothers is a recently marryed thai lady living here in the uk, sister says that although she was fine at first, sadly , after being here about a year,she has developed mental health probs - she cant adjust to living here and wants to go back to los, this is the point i was making on another thread ,thai ladys dont fair well out of their own enviroment ,its like taking a fish out of water --imo
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#6
04-05-2005, 19:32
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I hate the title
Quote:
The word "forces" in the title really irks the hell out me. Nobody is "forcing" anybody here. If they want to look at people being forced, why don't they focus instead on the indentitured servitude, and a whole host of other problems more close to an example where people are "forced", as opposed to this voluntary marriage between two people, where both get something out of the relationship. 
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#7
04-05-2005, 20:04
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i have a very personal and intersting take on this subject. ive known a bg for a year now. at 1st we were bf/gf but ive broken off because i left my job and just want freedom. in the time that we werent together she met an italy guy, only 24yrs old. she stayed with him for a week only. now, because i do not 100% gf, she says she has to go to italy. now, a few things, this girl makes decent money without touching a guy. she gets a 4000baht slary and gets anywhere from 120-175 drinks at 50baht/drink. so she makes around 10000-13000baht. also she goes and dances at tai pan and the owner gives her 500-1000 and she does this maybe 8-12 times a month. so all said, without touching a guy she makes close to 20000baht/mo. i try and explain to her that she can work in the bar and basically choose who she goes with and its almost like the western world where she is hooking up. but, like most tg's, shes totally irrational and doesnt think things through. so instead of listening to reason, she is jumping into moving across the country for a guy she only knows a week. thats just one story, but a good example of how theses girls think.
also on the subject of the high % of swiss men. i am sure that would be fairly true of most villages, especially small. one tg marries a swiss man, and maybe his swiss friends meet her friends.
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#8
04-05-2005, 22:40
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Quote:
"Relative wealth of foreigners tempts Thai women" At least my proposed title has that small aspect of the mixed marriages represented in a more accurate statement for many marriages. However even my proposed subject is still not completely accurate as there are cases (such as mine) where the Thai women is at least as wealthy as the falang husband. Still even a title as I proposed, while more accurate, would only tell one part of the story (and not go into the differences in culture that Asian women find attractive about western men, and the differences in culture that Western men find attractive about Asian women). Cross culture marriages can involve many factors, of which relative wealth is not always the dominating factor. This obsession with money and wealth shows a commercial limited view of the editor, and the author, of the title to such an article, and also says certain things about readers who may mistakenly seize upon the title as a statement of truth. Instead of properly leading into a complex issue of cross culture marriage, the title focused on the word "forces". For a long time I have thought there is something significantly wrong with the way the press attempts to sensationalise everything, and this is just another example. 
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#9
04-05-2005, 23:18
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Hey Void,
I had to reply to this one! Surely you would not expect the Thai press to report that Farang men are, relatively speaking, wealthier than their Thai counterparts and that Farangs may even treat them better? How much 'face' would be lost in an article like that?
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#10
05-05-2005, 16:14
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Stev, I think you nailed the headline reasoning right there, in fact I am amazed that they let the line "older people even say that they do not want sons at all, describing them as 'useless'" slip through...
The hard fact is in the North there is very little work to be done, and without wanting to make this sound too racist, when I was in the north thats about how I would have described a huge % of the young males there.. Staying with my GF for a week there was the usual drunken revelry, but after a couple of days of it I remember asking her, dont any of these guy have a job to go to ??? The daughters of the village end up going off to the cities, the sons and brothers tend to the 3 times yearly rice harvest and the rest of the time wait for the rice to grow. As to this town in the north I have heard of it before.. Some crazy place where the wooden huts stop and farang build homes and pickups sit.. Every 3rd guy in town is a Swiss.. Must be a head trip.
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#11
05-05-2005, 16:27
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Unfortunately void this is just a prime example of so called 'journalism' today and it is a worldwide problem. Real News just doesn't sell, controversy, sensationalism and getting a reaction from the reader (often negative as yours rightly was) is the aim.
Nothing so righteous as a 'journalist' with a non-story. /end rant
__________________
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#12
05-05-2005, 16:36
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Hobbsy get that finger out of your nose !!!!
__________________
MAY THE BEER BE COLD AND ALL YOUR BETS WINNERS
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#13
05-05-2005, 16:38
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Quote:
Making good money and being independent, able to make your own choices in life, is a kind of mentality that is still foreign to most BGs, I think. A few, like Gail, have this mentality, and maybe they are the wave of the future. But for now, most BGs are still of the mentality that asks, "Who will take care of me? I just want some one to take care of me." As Steve(senor123) pointed out, most have no concept of saving for the future, so it doesn't matter how much they are making, they still feel insecure, as if the flow of money might stop any day, and then where would they be? They would be broke, on the street, and looking for someone to take care of them. So why wait for that to happen? They want to find someone to take care of them ASAP! JayBee 
__________________
LOS is warm, soft, smooth, and brown. 
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#14
09-05-2005, 12:01
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Quote:
Good  The alternate heading should be... Greddy self centered man-hating femme nazi's force Western men into foreign marraiges
__________________
Be Like Water
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#15
09-05-2005, 14:52
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Quote:
Good point, Bafana. When you think about it, how many men anywhere force women into marriages? Isn't it always the woman who wants to get married?
__________________
LOS is warm, soft, smooth, and brown.
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#17
11-05-2005, 12:50
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Except with the issues of visa's and women returning to live in countries overseas...
Most of us shacked up here with TG's try never to mention the 'M' word but I know a few Thai / Farang couples back in Europe who simply had to get married during the first 90 day visa otherwise they would be seperated and the chances of her being back in the bar life was a risk the guy didnt want to take.. I have just scammed an irish visa for a girl this week which was a ball ache.. Now I find out the fella has been posted to work in Iceland.. This girl has now got a UK and irish valid visa's and due to his work movements they are still not sure they can be together..
__________________
Men have only 2 emotional states, hungry and horny.. So ladies, if you see me without an erection, make me a sandwich.
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#18
11-05-2005, 13:18
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Quote:
IT WASNT ME  ......555..............IJ
__________________
one life.......live it.......tomorrow never comes......
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#19
11-05-2005, 18:00
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Quote:
Or me....55555.. Even though this place feels like Iceland at the moment.. "Fu*king Freezing" 
__________________
LIFES A BIT*H THEN U MARRY 1 
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#20
15-05-2005, 10:51
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Quote:
Another warm and and sunny day in California.  Couldn't be more perfect. Guaranteed to be a smile on your face!  I'm kinda glad I'm not in the LOS heat right now. May is not the best month to be in LOS! A bit too hot for me! But to be in England or Ireland! Freezing you butt off! Geez, I feel for you guys. My heart goes out to you! 
__________________
LOS is warm, soft, smooth, and brown.
Last edited by JayBee : 16-05-2005 at 07:35.
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#21
15-05-2005, 14:11
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Marriage and Visas
Quote:
Times have changed, and Love is not always the final definining "factor" that brings about a marriage. Last edited by void : 15-05-2005 at 14:19.
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#22
15-05-2005, 14:58
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Quote:
So true, I don't know what being in love feels like. Got it knocked out of me when I was a teenager I think.
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